My Biology Teacher
by Another Night Without You
Summary: Sophomore year: a usual, boring and predictable school year for Sora. But maybe a certain biology teacher will make it quite different, this time. Mainly Sora/Riku, slight Axel/Roxas, Demyx/Zexion, Cloud/Leon. Completed.
1. The Encounter

A/N: Hello! Anwy here. This is my first fanfic ever (well, technically not my first. My first was made years ago and I submitted it to a teacher. Yeah, _submitted_ it to my _teacher_. It was Riku/Sora btw lol). Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this. Please forgive any grammatical or maybe spelling mistakes, as I'm not a native English speaker :) Cheers! -Anwy

**Chapter I - The Encounter**

A pair of sapphire blue eyes fluttered open, welcomed by a faint sound of dribbling water drops. It was drizzling. _Great morning _Sora thought. _First day of school, and I'm pretty sure I'd snooze easily with this weather. _He yawned, then got off from his bed, yanking his soft thick blanket.

"Sora? Are you up yet? First day in your sophomore year, remember?" A voice was heard from outside, half yelling. It was Sora's father, Cloud.

"Yes, Cloud! I'm gonna take a shower." Sora answered, rushed to the bathroom.

Cloud was cooking in the kitchen, wearing a baby blue floral apron. Another guy was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee. A few minutes passed by, suddenly that guy let out a squeak, shocked nearly spilling his coffee, as his neck wrapped by a pair of tan colored hand. The shocked guy turned his neck to see who was the owner of that hands.

"Morning, Leon." Some harmless wet spikes of brown hair was seen, together with a super-wide grin. Apparently Sora had finished his shower.

"I won't take you to school if you made me spill my coffee." Leon stared at Sora with a don't-do-anything-stupid-in-the-morning glare.

"Aww, Leon. Don't be so mean. It's your responsibility to take our son to school, whether he made you spill your coffee or not." Cloud chuckeled, serving breakfast to his son.

Taking his plate, Sora joined Leon, sitting on the couch. "Morning, Cloud." Sora kissed the guy with an apron on his cheek.

"Morning too, Sora. Go eat your breakfast. You don't want to be late at your first day." Cloud ruffled the boy's hair, smiling.

Sora finished his breakfast quickly, and then walked toward a table, where a glass of milk was served (without any doubt, it was his. No one else in this house drink milk other than Sora). He gulped down his milk in less than 2 minutes, as if he was in a milk-drinking contest. Leon stood up, glanced at Sora to make sure his son was done with his business, then walked out the house to get inside his car. After grabbing his bag and lunch, Sora joined him.

* * *

><p>The drizzle had stopped (actually there's still a really really <em>really<em> light drizzle, but no one cared enough to shield their head or even with their umbrellas). It left a faint smell of soil and a nice soothing atmosphere. Absolutely Sora's favorite.

"HEY, Roxas! Over her-Hey you deaf! ROXAS!" Sora waved his hand above his head. A blonde teenager who were looking for the source of Sora's voice and found it, now ran toward Sora, slicing trough the crowd of students. Sora was happy that he could find Roxas right after he arrived at school. Roxas was Sora's best friend since they were baby. They've know each other as if they were twin. They were inseparable.

"Thank you for the voice pollution, Sora. Just stop grinning like that, you'd tear your face pretty soon." Blondie sighed as the brunette showing his signature grin. "Anyway, good news, we're on the same class, Sor." Roxas smiled as he patted his best friend's shoulder.

"Ha, I _knew _it! That's why I'm feelin' reaaaaal good when I woke up." His grin was then even wider.

Roxas didn't respond. Still a little sleepy, perhaps. Roxas grabbed Sora's hand while walking, leading their way to their class room. Suddenly, two slender hands sprouted out of nowhere, hugging the blondie and the brunette from behind. Roxas and Sora were shocked, almost tripped until those hands let them go.

"OH MY GOD HI SORA!" A loud greeting was heard from their back. The inseparable boys turned their body, only to meet a tall, blonde man with green eyes, showing a friendly big grin (but _still _couldn't beat Sora's). Roxas' expression showed that he was slightly annoyed, minding the fact that his eardrums were already attacked twice this morning.

Sora hugged this tall blonde tight, while he hugged him back. "Demyx! Sounds great like always." He squeaked happily, proudly showing his best smile to this man. Demyx was Roxas' older brother, 2 years older than them, which means he was in his senior year. Sora got along pretty well with Demyx (not as well as him and Roxas, though), as they had a similar, bubbly personality. They had spent lots of time together, since Sora went to Roxas' house almost every week (sleepovers didn't count). Behind Demyx's shoulder, an unknown shorter man with dark blue hair stood motionlessly. He ran his hand trough his bangs, drawing it slightly upward, even though at the end it fell down back to its place. His expression was impassive. Demyx suddenly grabbed this man's wrist, pulled him forward so the boys could had a better look.

"By the way, this is Zexy-uhm-Zexion, my ol' pal since few years ago. Well, you guys never saw him since he continuously rejected my invitation to our lovely house!" Demyx introduced his friend to Sora and Roxas. Actually Roxas already knew about Zexion since Demyx talked about him a lot. _A lot_. But Roxas never met him in person. "Well, it's not like Zexy-man doesn't want to visit us, but he reads _too much_ books." Demyx made a fake pout on his face, then turned his face to Zexion.

"Well, sorry about reading to much books because it's my hobby," a tiny hint of sarcasm was detected in his low, soft voice. His face is still unreadable, "but you never mind to come over to my house after all, so I don't see that as a problem." Sora was impressed to this man because his slow-careful- way of speaking. _He seemed like a smart guy, _Sora thought.

Breaking the noisy sound of students chattering, an ear hurting sound of a bell rung loudly for a few painful seconds, calling all students to go to their class to start the lesson. Demyx (which was still holding to Zexion's wrist for a while -either intentionally or not-) snapped his head up, a little bit startled. "This bell never failed to startled me," he laughed, "we better get going. See ya at lunch!" He winked, and then dragged Zexion while waving his hands toward Sora and Roxas.

"We better rush into the class as well, Rox! Detention at the first day is not funny." Then Sora and Roxas half-run into their class.

* * *

><p>The first day of school wasn't <em>that<em> bad. Most of the teachers only asked their student about their holiday or introducing what will they learn for this year. A few teacher, usually the ones who were old or had no sense of humor or had never felt any happiness in their life (at least that was what Sora thought) just started their lesson without any friendly how-are-you-and-by-the-way-this-is-not-holiday-anymore chat.

Everything was reaaaally slow, until the goddamn-I-hate-that-noisy bell rung. It was lunch break, students' second favorite time at school (the first favorite time was definitely when the school's over). Sora grabbed his lunch that was prepared by Cloud this morning, then went to his numero uno buddy's desk, Roxas, who then stood up and followed Sora got out from class room. They went to the cafeteria which was quite far from their class. Th Sora and Roxas didn't talk to each other. Both boys were sleepy from the lesson before this lunch break (it was math, and everyone knew how tiring math is. Period.) so they just mutely walked toward cafeteria. The cafeteria in their school was quite vast. It was located on the side of the school's main building. There was a counter where students can buy some lunch if they hadn't had any time to prepare some. Right next to the cafeteria, there was a park. It has few trees, and filled with short grass. It also has some benches, where some students can use to sit and eat their lunch or just hang around after school (even though right now no one used it because it's wet because of the drizzle earlier). After a couple minutes, from the corner of his eyes, Sora recognized Demyx as they arrived at their destination. Demyx was waving to their direction, already saved two seat in front of him for Sora and Roxas. They're both relieved that Demyx already saved a spot for them, because the cafeteria was overwhelmed by students who were viciously looking for seat. Zexion was there too, sitting next to Demyx, reading a book and ignored the food-filled tray in front of him.

"Hey guys! How was the first day of your sophomore year so far? Boring?" The older blonde asked excitedly, staring to his younger brother and Sora. Sora and Roxas yawned together unintentionally, then Demyx chuckled. "I'll take that as a 'yes'". Sora smiled at Demyx, then started to eat his lunch. Roxas ate his lunch too, and sometimes took his brother's french fries even though his hand was jokingly slapped by Demyx every time he does that. Food in Zexion's tray was still untouched, crying to be eaten by him but disappointed because he chose book over it.

"Are you going to eat them?" The brunette throw his question at Zexion who at first didn't realize that he was being asked. "W-well it's not like I want it, but you better finish them off before our lunch break is over." He then continued to chomp down his energy supply.

"Ah. Yes." Zexion then back to his book for a few seconds, then closed his book and started to eat.

"Bad old habit of Zexy-man," Demyx frowned, "we should punish him for not eating his food!" He grinned, shoving his face right in front of Zexion's, who then jerked his head back, startled by Demyx's sudden move.

"Okay, okay, no punishment's needed. I already started eating, anyway." Somehow the shorter senior looked a bit frightened at Demyx's word.

Then they ate their lunch in laughter, mostly because Demyx's funny stories. He always has stories to be told, and jokes to be laughed at. Several times Sora almost choked on his food, too much laughing, so did Roxas. Sometimes Zexion laughed too, a tiny shy laugh that seemed like he was maintaining his calm image, even though everyone knew that he's highly amused. Sora never thought that Zexion was able to laugh like that. Right after all of them finished their lunch, the bell rang. After saying good bye to each other, this four happy (well, not _that_ happy since they're going back to the worst part of school for a few more hours) friends went back to their class. Zexion, again dragged by Demyx, and Roxas, dragged by his bubbly friend.

* * *

><p>There were 2 more lesson that they had to went trough. It was such a tiring battle, to keep their eyes open while the rain started to pour again, creating a comfortable surrounding to depart into the dream land. Sora was already there.<p>

"Hey Sora! Wake up!" A red haired girl that was sitting next to Sora whispered, tried to wake Sora up. "The teacher has been looking at you for a while." She shut her mouth as the teacher walked to the brunette's table, then Sora suddenly awake when the mentioned teacher tapped her fingers on his table.

"Oh boy, sleepy on your first day, huh?" The blonde teacher (who introduced herself as "Larxene" a chemistry teacher) smiled smugly, as she caught one of her student red handed. "Now tell me 7 strong acid that I just mentioned." She seemed pleased with this situation.

"Um... Sorry Miss, I didn't pay any attention." Sora looked down at his lap, feeling guilty and ashamed. A light blush spread across his face, as 30-something pair of eyes stared at him.

"Hmph." Larxene smirked then turned her body, marching back to the front of class room where a whiteboard was placed. "Consider your self lucky, since I have no mood to give you any lecture about how to listen to your teacher at chemistry. This is a warning, boy. What's your name?"

"S-sora. Sora Strife." He stuttered.

"I remember every students that made such mistake on their first day. You just add a new name to my list."

Then a familiar-but-still-startling sound of school bell was heard. After saying "Ta-ta guys, see you next lesson", Larxene went out from the class in a speed of lightning, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.

"You're so messed up, Sora." The red haired girl next to him spoke again.

"Gee, thanks for stating the obvious, Kairi. I was eating a huge strawberry cake in my dream, ya know?" Suddenly Sora's expression lightened up, as he remembered his dream. Kairi just laughed. Kairi was Sora's friend since junior high school, but they weren't that close. Now that they went into the same class together, Sora thought they'd get along easily.

_Okay, Sora, just one more lesson to go! _Sora tried to motivate himself and promised not to mess this just like chemistry. The whole class was filled with a loud chatter from every corner. Everyone was talking to each other, taking the little chance to chat while the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Sora glanced at Roxas and found him chatting with a boy named Hayner. After a few minutes passed, a tall silver haired guy walked in into the class room. His hair was long, tied up into a ponytail. His eyes _-Oh god his eyes_ Sora stunned, his mouth formed an 'o'- were a beautiful shade of aquamarine, green and blue mixed. It was the most beautiful pair of eye that Sora had ever seen. His skin was pale, complementing his silky silver hair. Almost too pale, that Sora thought that he was sick or something, but the rosy healthy color on his cheeks proofed otherwise. His body was hidden behind his pale blue thin shirt. Sora was pretty sure that he could see the man's abs trough that shirt. His long slender fingers were holding on couple of textbooks (which read _Biology_, for your information). Everything on this person was just beautiful, perfectly made, and without no doubt everyone is dying to get him, but only one thing that bothered Sora. HE IS A TEACHER. _Teacher_. That word echoed trough his head over and over until the gorgeous man opened his mouth and spoke.

"Good afternoon, class. My name is Riku Volk, and I will be your biology teacher for a whole year." He then showed a dazzling smile that made Sora's mouth formed a bigger 'o' than before.

That moment, Sora realized that his biology class will never be the way it used to be.

A/N: So, how was that? It was exciting to write a story haha. And if you have a couple seconds to spare, please do leave a review! I'd like to know what you guys think ;) critiques are welcomed too! Thanks a lot :) -Anwy


	2. Being Known

A/N: I'm back! I actually having real fun writing this and can't wait too long to write another chapter :) I hope you'll enjoy this one ;D Oh also, thanks to **SoRikuRox** for being kind enough to made me a better summary! I admitted that it was quite a struggle to decide what to write there haha! Anyway, enjoy! -Anwy

**Chapter II - Being Known**

Right after he arrived in his empty house (Leon was still working, and Cloud had to take care of his bookstore, so Sora had his own spare key and got home by his self) Sora buried his face on his fluffy pillow. He was rolling on his bed. His school bag was stashed on the corner of his room, near his bookshelf. _Oh. My. God. _He thought. _I've never seen someone so perfect but when he appeared, he's my teacher._ The brunette furrowed his eyebrows, imagining a romantic scene between him and his gorgeous teacher. _It feels so nice but also so wrong at the same time, _he sighed at his thought. The emptiness in his room just sat quietly. After a while, trying not to forget every detail with his new biology teacher, Sora replayed what just happened at school.

* * *

><p>"Good afternoon, class. My name is Riku Volk, and I will be your biology teacher for a whole year." The teacher greeted us with his graceful smile and took a seat behind teacher's desk. "Since this is my first time teaching here -well, also my first time teaching at school, to be honest-, I think a little introduction would be great. Tell me your name and your hobby." He then asked us to introduce ourselves one by one, starting from the front row. Sora could feel his heart beat faster when every other students introduced themselves. Finally his turn, the teacher laid his eyes on him. For a second, Riku seemed puzzled until he raised his voice and said, "okay, your turn, boy."<p>

Sora tried his best not to blush, but he could feel his warm blood climbing up onto his cheeks. "M-my name is Sora Strife," _Goddamn it, why am I stuttering?! _"And my hobby is reading. Also eating... I guess." _WHY DID I SAY THAT. NOW HE'D THINK I'M A FAT PIG OH GOD TAKE ME NOW. _Finally he decided to sat down, to restrain his mouth from saying more embarrassing thing.

Riku continued his introduction session, and after every single soul told him their names and hobbies, he asked "So, is there's anything you guys want to know about me?" Once again he flashed his dazzling smile.

Kairi raised her hand. "Are you single?" A whole class room filled with laughter. _Typical Kairi. _Sora huffed.

"You're the straightforward one, aren't you?" Riku chuckled. "But yes, I am single, for your information." He then winked at Kairi, and Kairi just laugh with a bright pink blush on her cheeks. The other girls giggles, didn't expect such move from their new teacher. Correction, New gorgeous teacher.

"Sora! I think biology would be my favorite subject." Kairi whispered to Sora. _Mine too. _His mouth formed a little smile, returning Kairi's ear to ear grin.

Suddenly another hand was raised, followed by a question by a girl named Olette. "So, what's your hobby?"

"I have quite a lot. I like reading, I also love sports, any kind of sport." _No wonder his body seems so perfect._ Sora blushed by his own thought, and then lost into his imagination while staring at the teacher. Suddenly his "deep" thought was popped by school bell. Their whole period was mostly spent for students introduction, leaving only a little time for them to fish out some personal information from Riku. And now their school was over, no one would bother to asked anything personal anymore. "Okay guys, seems like school is over. We'll meet again later." Then he stood up, packed his textbooks and stationary, and he left. It doesn't take a minute for the students to left the class as well. Going home was always exciting. Sora was still in his chair. He just sat there making no movement, while half of the class was already empty. Roxas approached him and shook his friend's shoulder.

"Earth to Sora? Are you alive? Please say something, you still owe me some munny, man." Roxas' brow furrowed

"Damn, Roxas. That teacher is hot."

"_What the fuck_, Sora."

* * *

><p>"Sora, dinner is ready." A big palm covered Sora's left shoulder, squeezed it lightly.<p>

The son opened his eyes. _06:23 pm_. He saw cloud sitting on the side of his bed, still squeezing his shoulder. "Is Leon home yet?" Sora mumbled.

"Too bad, he won't be home until 10. He had to work overtime today. Okay, get up, big boy. Nappie time is over."

The brunette finally made his way toward the dining room. Still rubbing his eyes to shoo away sleepiness, he sat down across his father, starting to eat.

"So, how was school?" Cloud's voice broke the silence.

"Not bad." Sora murmured, then swallowed his food.

"How about the teachers?" The father still attempted to keep up a conversation. He looked at his son while eating, curiosity was shown clearly in his blue eyes.

Sora choked when suddenly remembered about Mr. Volk. The blonde handed him a glass of water which gulped down instantly right after it's taken from his hand. "Uh, most of them just like usual, nothing changed. There are some new teachers, though." He coughed a few times.

"That's great. I hope you won't scare them away." Cloud laughed happily.

"Hey! I'm not scary! I'm adorable, you know?" The younger man pouted, and Cloud just laughed harder until Sora joined his laughter. "Well, they're nice so far... Mostly." He crinkled his nose, reminded to his chemistry teacher, Larxene. Cloud gave a small nod and they continued their dinner with some light chat.

After they finished their meal, they cleaned their dishes and spent their night watching TV. Sora glad he didn't have any homework, at least for now. They watched some comedy show until the clock showed 10pm. Leon hadn't come back yet and Cloud told his son to sleep. Sora marched to his room, but instead sleeping, he stared at his books. To be exact, biology book. He reached it, and tried to read some passage. He stared at the pictures slowly, trying to commit them into his memory. Biology was never his favorite subject. The fact was, he never enjoyed biology, and tend to fail a lot in biology. _Maybe he could help me_. A smiling perfect face with silver hair returned to his mind. Sora closed his book and try to shut his blue eyes. He could hear a sound of opened door and a man's voice that he couldn't made any word from it. It was Leon's. _Oh, Leon is home_, he thought. He could hear Cloud's chuckle as well. While listening their faint conversation, he faded away into his sleep.

* * *

><p>Sora was walking with Roxas toward the school. Their school (The Twilight High, one of favorite school in the district) was always flooded with students. Of course with such a huuuge building, it could hold bazillion students and still looked crowded even half of them were kicked out of school. The inseparable boys (AN: it sounds like a boy band group lol) were glimmering in sweats, as the sun was conquering the morning, making promise that there won't be any rain like yesterday. _Fucking global warming_. Sora muttered to himself and took a glance at his blonde fella. He looked as irritated as him with sweat trailing down his forehead.

"Ice cream after school, Sora." It wasn't a question. But Sora didn't refuse, though. He know what he needed and so do Roxas, who knew that their need was mutual. He wiped his eyes when a drop of sweat trailed into his eyes. He grunted.

This day couldn't be any worse. It was really hot and there would be P.E. on the sixth period. On the fucking hot sweaty sixth period, right before lunch when the sun proudly unleash its power toward the earth. _And_, there's no biology today. Shoot. Sora never wanted to end his school like this, before the school even started. But what can he do, anyway? So he just walked toward the school with the blondie who kept distance 32.6 inch away, so their body heat won't collide onto each others and made them even hotter.

Finally they reached their class and sat down on their own desks. The ACs were gracing them with its cool air, but apparently they weren't enough for about 30 panting students in the hot morning. Everything was still hot, but school had to start, whether it's hot or not. With this heat, every lesson seemed annoying. Not to mention that the teachers so far were quite irritating. Currently, the brunette was facing physics. The teacher, -_the old gramps- _Mr. Vexen (who never told his last name, therefore asked to be called by his first name only) was getting grouchier than usual. He'd bark on anyone who made a single sound. Sora never loved physics, either.

_11:02. _Everyone was on the field, waiting for their P.E. teacher, Mr. Lexaeus Finn turned up. About 5 minutes later, he finally arrived and told us to warm up. We ran for a few laps, until 11:18. _Still 12 minutes to lunch break. _Sora was dying. Well, at least that's what he thought. His right arms were hung on Roxas' shoulder. Roxas tried to drag him aside, where the field was shaded under the trees. Not even half of their trip, Sora's nose started to bleed. Roxas panicked as Sora just stayed quiet. His vision was hazy, and his head felt so heavy. Trying to keep conscious, he bit his lip, hoping that the pain will help. Mr. Finn was already gone, and while the others were resting, waiting for lunch break. Kairi and Roxas took Sora to the infirmary. Sora was half conscious. On their way to the infirmary, Sora heard a familiar voice. He could tell that the owner of that voice was frightened, and suddenly two strong arms took his body, and carried it in bridal style. He caught a glimpse of silver hair. _Wait, what?_ After a while, he could feel his body was placed on a bed. A blurry figure of a woman walked toward Sora and wiped his bleeding nose. The strong hand that carried his body now caress the brunette's hair, as he put a wet towel on Sora's head. After that, Sora fell asleep and everything went dark.

* * *

><p>Sora finally awake and sat up from his bed. The towel that was placed on his head fell on his side. He tried to grab it before it fell to the floor, but he was too late and the damp towel fell on the floor with a little <em>splat<em> sound.

"You're awake." A woman approached him, bent down and took the towel from the floor. _I guess she's a nurse_, Sora thought. Then she stood up and smiled. "You were blacked out when exercising. No wonder, though, it is really hot today. Talk about heatstroke." She huffed. "Anyway, you should thanks your friend who helped you. The blonde boy and the red haired girl." The nurse directed her attention to a note. She was writing on it. Probably a report or something. "Oh, don't forget to thank Mr. Volk too. He carried you here since your friends couldn't make it quick enough."

Sora was astonished. _Mr. Volk? He carried me?_ He was so speechless. Kind of happy, though. "Um. Well, thanks for taking care of me, Mam." He smiled at the nurse, and she replied it with a friendly smile.

"You better go back to your class."

"Sure. Thanks again!" Sora hopped down onto the floor. He could feel his stomach asking for food, and decided to buy something on cafeteria before he went into his class.

While eating his bread that he bought, he strolled trough the hallway toward his class. He walked quietly, not only because his mouth was shut by his food, but he didn't want to make any sound since the other classes were studying.

"Sora?" A familiar voice that he heard before he fell unconscious called his name. He turned his back only to meet a pair of aquamarine eyes. The eyes that made his stomach filled with fluttering butterflies. "Hi. Um, I'm Riku Volk, your biology teacher. Remember?" Riku rubbed the back of his head. He looked nervous.

Sora made a of-course-I-remember-duh face and quickly said, "yes Mr. Volk. The nurse said that you carried me to the infirmary." He blushed a little, as he panicked, trying to find the right words. "Thanks a lot, mister, that's really kind of you."

"Ah, it's nothing. Glad you're okay. You better hurried to your class, though. This period is almost over." Then Riku smiled, trying to cover his uneasiness.

"Yeah." The brown haired girl couldn't find any better answer, and after that, he rushed to his class.

He finally reached his classroom door, and right before he opened the door, the bell rung. _Shit. _He got in, anyway, and saw his English teacher, Miss Xion Andrews. "Sorry I didn't make it into your class, Miss Andrews." He let out a worried chuckle. Miss Andrews was usually nice, but sometimes she could be real pain when she's on her PMS. Girls.

"It's okay, Sora. I heard about you from Roxas. Glad you've recovered." Miss Andrews walked toward the door, patted Sora's shoulder. Right before she stomped her feet outside the class room, she shouted "don't forget your homework, alright?" Then she went out.

"Sor!" Roxas called him, and Sora walked to the blonde's desk. "You okay?" He looked a bit concerned.

"Yep, perfectly fine. Actually more than fine." He grinned and Roxas slapped his palm onto his face.

"It's about Mr. Volk, isn't it?"

"Bingo." Roxas sighed.

"Okay he carried you, Sora. Felt like a bride, huh?" He smirked, but Sora just laughed.

"Too bad I was half conscious. If not, I'd stare at him for eternity as he carried me." Sora touched his hair, and he just remembered that Mr. Volk caressed his hair. _Or maybe that part was only a dream?_ He didn't mind if it was only a dream at all. It felt so real. "I met him on the way here, too. He was concerned about me! Ya hear that, Roxy?" He put a winning smile on his face, only to be replied by a deep sigh.

"Whatever, Sor."

Sora went back to his desk, and welcomed by Kairi. She was talking about how Sora bled a lot and his skin went pale and looked so sick and now he never looked healthier than this. Then she lent him her notes when Sora left behind and told him some homework for tomorrow, until the teacher came.

The last period of the day was history. The teacher was new. She's quite short, blonde, and her skin was beautiful that it seemed like it was glowing. Her eyes were blue -_somehow she looked like Kairi-_ and her voice was really soft and delicate. Even too soft that the class went really quiet in order to listen to her. _Maybe it's her way not to make the class noisy. Clever._ Sora liked her already. She was so gentle when teaching and praised her student a lot. He was pretty sure that everyone would love her, she seemed so nice.

* * *

><p>Finally the bell rung and the school was officially over. Sora and Roxas quickly walked out of the class room. They went to a bench on the park and sat there. Roxas dropped a text to Demyx, asked if he want to come along to grab some ice cream.<p>

Roxas: Wanna go get ice cream?

Demyx: Sure! Wait 4 me. And u don't mind if Zexy come, rite?

Roxas: Ya. We r waiting on the park. Get ur ass down here quickly.

Demyx: Aw Roxy, ur so mean 2 ur bro! We'll get there asap.

After waiting for a while, a tall blonde with a dark blue haired companion walked toward them. Sora and Roxas left their bench and approached them. They bought 4 sea salt ice cream on the nearest store and went to the top of the clock tower. Their official meeting point.

"Hey, Sora, Roxy said something about you blacked out today? What happened?" Demyx put his ice cream back into his mouth, leaning his body forward and craning his neck to his right side so he could get a better look on Sora.

"Yeah, I kinda passed out. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?" Sora grinned, his eyes widened while Demyx startled and gave him a little nod, motioned him to continue his statement.

"Mr. Volk carried him to the infirmary. Bridal style." Roxas said it in a flat tone. No excitement could be found in his voice.

"Whoa, wait, the new teacher?" The older blonde's eyes widened. His face was bemused. Zexion, who was at first didn't care at all, now seemed interested.

"Yup! And I think he kind of caressed me when I was out." Sora licked his salty-but-sweet ice cream.

"How did you know that? You fainted. And you didn't said anything about caressing before!" Now Roxas looked just like his brother with his expression.

"Uhm, I whas khind of... Ya khnow, haff ahwake." He answered with his ice cream still in his mouth, not bothered to took it off first.

"Hah. He looked like a womanizer, though. With that pretty face of his, he could make any girls swoon!" Demyx replied. Zexion said nothing, but he still staring at Sora, his face filled with curiosity.

"And boys too." Sora added with a cheerful voice. While he ate his ice cream, he kept pondering, what would that caress for. And now to think about it, Mr. Volk was quite jumpy when they met on the hallway. _Oh well, I will find out about him._

* * *

><p>AN: Yeah, more Riku in this chapter :D I hope you guys like it! And I can't wait to work on the next chapter :) If you have time, please leave a review and let me know about my writing. Thanks!


	3. Getting Closer

A/N: Another chapter after a long wait! Finally we're getting somewhere, I guess. And I'd like to say thanks for **SoRikuRox **for helping me to beta-read this chapter! There's a lot for me to learn in writing world haha. Anyway, enjoy : ) -Anwy

**Chapter III – Getting Closer**

A pair of teenage boys was walking off their school. The one with golden blond hair looked pissed off. The other one didn't, but he didn't look happy either. Not like his usual self, at least.

"I can't believe it, I thought I did it really well!" Roxas gritted his teeth. "I've never gotten such a bad score for chemistry!"

"C'mon, Rox. I didn't pass chem, either. _Nor_ biology." The brunet sighed: he was really sure that he would've gotten a good score on biology. "Looks like my biology is a disaster."

It had been 2 weeks since their first day of school; they had been through some tests a few days ago but they had ended up disappointed with the results. Sora had been working hard on biology, but apparently his work had not been enough. And in the end, he had failed chemistry too because he was too much focused on biology. Or, more precisely, too much focused on _his biology teacher_. Roxas, that was getting tired with 'Mr. Volk' always popping up in their conversations every time Sora opened his mouth, wasn't surprised that his friend got a bad score on biology. The boys kept talking until they parted ways and went to their own houses. After saying goodbyes to each other, Sora started to walk slightly faster. Kind of worried with his scores, he let out a sad sigh. _'What will I say to Cloud and Leon?'_ He did not want to disappoint his parents, but with such scores, it was unavoidable.

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><p>The clock showed a few numbers that read as 7:08 pm. The Strifes were sitting on their chairs, facing the table and starting to eat their dinner in silence. Sora was eating soundlessly keeping his head down, not daring to look at them. After gathering enough courage, he took a few breaths and finally decided to tell them about his scores.<p>

"Sora, I already know." Leon spoke at the moment his son opened his mouth.

Sora shut up immediately. He bit his lip and finally asked: "How did you know?"

"You always look like this when you got bad scores." Cloud chuckled. It wasn't a happy one, though. Only a mere chuckle to kick out the awkwardness between them. "Anyway, I just got a chemistry tutor for you and Roxas. I've already talked about it with his mom, so there won't be any problems."

"Thanks, Cloud. And, um... I'm sorry for this. I promise I'll work harder." He still didn't dare to look at his parents' eyes.

"It's okay, Sora. Look at me." Leon demanded. Sora lifted his head, returning Leon's stare, trying to find any anger in his eyes. "Just do your best, alright?"

"Yeah." Sora smiled. Cloud ruffled his son's hair, just as spiky as his own. "So, about this chem tutor," curiosity crossed his mind, "it was quick to get one in less than a day."

"I got a recommendation from one of my employees in the bookstore. He told me that he's really good. And he gets along really well with high school brats." The blonde man replied. _'He must talk a lot about me in his bookstore.'_ Sora wondered what else Cloud might have revealed about him to his employees. He hoped nothing about some of his embarrassing stuff. "Anyway, he will be teaching you guys starting from tomorrow. Every Tuesday, at 3pm. Come to his apartment with Roxas, will you? I've given Roxas the address already, so stick with him after school."

"You better fix your scores, Sora." Leon added with his serious tone.

"I will." Sora gave an ambitious nod, reassuring his parents.

"And," there was a little pause, "we know about your biology too." Leon spoke again. He and his husband exchanged a glance. Cloud smiled at Leon, and Leon's gaze returned to Sora. "But we think you can fix it by yourself."

Sora caught that, and it was confusing him. '_What was that?'_ He furrowed his brows, his face was bemused. _'They know about Mr. Volk?' _Worry came to his mind: maybe Roxas told them about it!

"Uh. I guess I'm done. I will... Um... Go finish my homework." After putting his plate in the sink, he rushed to his room. His fingers scrolled trough his phone, searching for Roxas' number.

_"Sora? What's up?"_ The blondie from the other side of the phone asked.

"Did you tell my parents about Mr. Volk?" He hissed to Roxas, trying to keep his voice down but still loud enough to show that he was being serious.

_"What? Mr. Volk? Of course no, duh. Why would I do that? What happened, anyway?"_ He retorted.

Sora sighed with a relief. He relaxed a little and he rested his head on the wall. "No... My parents were acting weird. Or maybe just my imagination."

_"Sure. Your imagination's the best, Sora."_ He chuckled. _"Anyway, we're going to this tutor's apartment tomorrow, right?"_

"Yep. See you later, Rox." Roxas hung the phone. Sora finished his homework and went to his slumber shortly after that.

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><p>It was the middle of biology lesson on the next day, when Riku was teaching his students about sodium and potassium pump. Sora's mind was wandering everywhere. Mostly everywhere on Riku's body. <em>'He's so perfect. Why did he have to be my teacher? I'm so damned to fell in love with a teacher.'<em> He sighed, and suddenly Riku's eyes met his own. He stared for a few seconds before continuing his lesson. _'Now not only my parents act weird, but Mr. Volk too. Just... what the heck is wrong?' _The brunet slumped his head on the desk with an unexpected loud 'thud' catching the attention of multiple eyes.

"Sora!" Kairi hissed, poking her friend on the shoulder.

"Sora Strife." The teacher spoke. The way he said his name gave him a chill. "Please refrain from sleeping in my class." Sora jerked his head up, embarrassed by the teacher's warning. He stared at Riku's blue green eyes with a oh-god-sorry-I-didn't-mean-that stare. "And I _will_ have some word with you. Come see me after school." Riku demanded as he stroked his chin.

Sora's eyes widened._ 'Now what?' _He sighed. Roxas glanced at him, giving him a concerned look. The brunet shrugged to him and mouthed 'I don't know' at the blondie. Roxas just shook his head and quickly turned to his book before getting a warning as well.

Biology went extremely slow that day. Sora just couldn't wait to see what was going to happen, he was frightened by the thought of Riku scolding him, half-convinced it would've been detention. He wasn't focused to the lesson, but to the teacher instead: on the way Riku talked through the perfectly sculpted lips, on his eyes blinking showing his long silvery lashes, on his silky hair that glimmered every time the sunshine reached it, on the way he slowly walked around the class while teaching, careful and elegant in each step, almost feline and even on the way his foot steps filled the quiet class. Well, he got distracted easily with Riku, it had been difficult for him to stay focused with him teaching. Eventually, he managed to keep up with the lesson until the bell rung. Before Riku walked away from the class, he gave Sora a final gaze as if trying to warn him not to run away right after school. Roxas strolled to his desk and sat on the top of it.

"Do you think he will scold me?" Sora asked to his best friend.

"Nah. He doesn't seem like the type who get angry. But I sincerely have no idea why he asked you to see him after school." Roxas admitted, frowning.

"Anyway, wait for me, okay? I can't get to the tutor's apartment by myself."

"Yeah. You're blind with directions, after all."

"Gee, thanks Roxy." Sora punched him lightly on his shoulder and the blonde laughed. Another teacher came in to start her lesson, so Roxas quickly marched back to his desk. Kairi patted Sora's shoulder and made an assuring smile to him, meaning that everything will be okay. Sora nodded and put a grin on his face.

The rest of the lessons went okay, with Sora trying his best not to doze off on his desk. Till the moment the final bell rang and Sora's heart jumped: it was thumping so hard that he was sure Kairi would have heard it. He was going to face his biology teacher soon.

"Sora, I will wait for you at the park, okay? Be there after you finish your business with Mr. Volk." Roxas had already done packing his bag and was now waving his hand at his friend, walking towards the door. "Be quick, Sor. We don't want to make our tutor wait too long." Hayner approached Roxas, and they seemed to have a little conversations with Hayner laughing his ass off as they walked out of the class.

"Okay, I'll try to make it quick." Sora shouted back to Roxas who was already gone, hoping that his voice would still reach him. He packed his bag slowly, he couldn't calm his heart down and now his mind was being crumpled as well. Shortly after he was done with his bag, he rushed to the teacher's room to find Riku. Over the transparent windows, he saw the silver haired teacher sitting in front of his desk, chatting with his chemistry teacher. It seemed like Larxene was enjoying the moment with a sweet grin on her face; Sora never thought that Larxene would be able to pull such an innocent face. Another woman was sitting in front of the biology teacher, trying to blend with their conversation. _'Well, seems like Mr. Volk is quite popular with the girls. Demyx was right'._ Sora gave a quick knock and he sneaked in easily. Some teachers stared at him curiously because of his sudden presence, while others didn't give a shit about him. He tiptoed to Riku's desk, not wanting to get any attention in the teacher's room. Riku noticed him and motioned him to come closer.

Apparently Larxene noticed him too. "Oh, looksie. Who do we have here?" Her signature smug smile appeared on her face. "The boy who slept on his first day in my class." A fake excitement clearly stated in her voice.

"Well, Miss Larxene," Riku spoke and then turned his eyes to the other teacher, "and Miss Evans, I'm afraid we have to end our little chit chat. I want to talk with Sora." He smiled at both women.

"Just Larxene. I don't like it too formal, alright?" Larxene dropped a few words before she and the other woman finally stood up and leaving Riku on his desk alone with Sora.

Sora bit his lip and gulped. The teacher gave him a confused look. "You okay, Sora? It's not like I'm going to scold you or anything." Riku pinched the bridge of his nose and rested his head on his other hand standing on the desk. The boy's shoulder slumped, his face filled with reliefs. "Well, it's about your score. You're my only student who got such a bad score." Riku continued.

"Uh, yes. I'm sorry about that, sir." Another concern right after the first one started to form in his head.

"So, regarding this matter, I'm offering you an extra class, once a week after school."

"What?" Sora's mind went into a complete shock. He had not expected such an offer.

"Extra class, after school, once a week. You heard me?" Riku repeated slowly.

"Y-yes."

"How about every Tuesday?" The silver haired teacher asked.

"I can't, sir. I have another thing to attend. Um, I meet my chemistry tutor every Tuesday." Sora replied. He had almost forgot his promise to Roxas, at least until he had mentioned chemistry.

Riku made an analyzing gaze of Sora's face and chuckled. "Miss Larxene must have given you a hard time with chem." He ran his fingers on his hair. "Let's see. How about Thursday? Or maybe Friday, but I'm really sure that you won't let me take your peaceful weekends." He let out another chuckle that made Sora's heart beat faster.

"I'm fine with Thursday. And yeah, I'd prefer to spend my weekends doing something else than biology." He grinned sheepishly and Riku laughed.

"Okay, every Thursday, right after school. I won't let you get another bad score, alright?" He gave his usual dazzling smile, showing a row of perfect teeth.

"Sure. Thank you so much for your offer, Mr. Volk." Sora put on his best smile. "Well, I should leave now for my chemistry tutor, sir." Riku nodded with understanding and Sora rushed to the door, almost bumping against a table, but he didn't care at all. He quickly walked to the park and found Roxas busy playing with his phone. "All done, Rox." He smiled to his blonde friend. Roxas lifted his head, his brows drawn.

"Why do you look so happy?" Roxas asked as he stood up from the bench where he rested his butt for the past 15 minutes.

"He offered me an extra class every Thursday! Which means the two of us will have some time alone." Sora's face looked ridiculous with his goofy smile. They walked with a medium pace, trying not to be late for the tutor's rendez-vous.

"Huh, like... only you and him? Why would he bother to do that? We're talking about Mr. Volk, right?" The blonde frowned.

"He's just being nice, Roxas. Yeah, still Mr. Volk. When did I start to talk about another teacher, anyway?" Sora pointed out. He got a point there: he never talked about another teacher other than Riku.

The boys kept walking quietly until they realized that they won't make it right on time, then they decided to run. After spending the last 3 minutes to find the intended apartment, they finally found it on the corner of a street. The building was quite tall –about 30 floors, Sora guessed- and looked quite old. The front walls were covered with light yellow paint which didn't match the color on the other sides. Some grafittis were drawn on the far side. There were also moss growing here and there, and some patches were seen where the red bricks shown behind the paint. There were tiny balcony stuck out in front of every window, where the tenants were hanging their laundry. The boys went through the door and got into the building. The inside didn't look as bad as the outside. In fact, it looked cozy even. Finally they took the elevator to the 8th floor.

"Room 813... Hm." Roxas mumbled as he was trying to find the correct room. Sora followed behind him, looking around. They finally reached the room and Roxas knocked on the door. No one showed up, so he gave another knock on the door and he heard a voice from inside.

"Wait a sec! I'm comin'!" Running footsteps were echoing on the floor and suddenly they heard a muffled crash from the inside. "Shit."

Roxas and Sora looked at each other, with the former giving the latter a doubtful look. The door finally opened and some spikes of red hair appeared. Sora and Roxas had to look up in order to see the red hair's face because he was surprisingly tall and slender. The man's green eyes were shining in excitement and the three of them just stood there for a couple seconds until the tall man let out a low whistle. He then crossed his hands and leaned his body to the door side.

With a smirk on his face, he said: "Never thought I'd get to tutor such a hot blondie."

A/N: So, how was it? There will be more Riku on next chapter. And finally a certain redhead appeared , so yay! If you have a little time to review, please do leave some. I'd love to know what do you guys think, whether you like it or not. And oh, I don't know if some of you already know or not, but 'Volk' means 'Wolf' in russian. Why russian? Because Riku's hair is white. And why wolf? No reason. Make any sense? No? Oh well don't mind it.


	4. Single Gesture

A/N: okay, chapter 4. Again, thank you so much for **SoRikuRox **who kindly took his time to correct my disastrous writing skill! *bro hug* I hope it's entertaining and if you like Axel/Roxas, check my new fic called **You Are Oblivion, I am Oathkeeper **that I just uploaded yesterday. Enjoy! -Anwy

edit: one more thing, I did a cover of "Simple and Clean" on youtube. If you want to hear it, PM me or say something on the review! I will PM the link :)

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><p><strong>Chapter IV –Single Gesture<strong>

"Never thought I'd get to tutor such a hot blondie."

Both Sora and Roxas froze, silence bursting among them. The redhead pouted.

"So, are you guys coming in or not?" He was still leaning his body against the door side, actually blocking the way to get into the room. He realized that and took a step back so the brunet and the 'hot blonde' could get in.

Sora hesitantly walked in, but Roxas stood still, his shoulders stiffened and his lips trembling. And he suddenly yelled: "CHIMO!"

The crimson haired guy jumped in shock, so did Sora. "'Chimo_'? _As in... Child molest—w-wait I'm not a chimo!" He threw his hands in the air out of frustation.

"YOU ARE!" Roxas protested with a hoarse voice.

"C'mon, take a joke, blondie. You _are_ hot-I have to admit it- but it was only—"

"CHI—"

"Alright, alright! I'm done." The redhead swept his sweaty forehead.

Seeing that the blonde boy didn't respond anymore, he let out an annoyed grunt out from his throat and grabbed Roxas' wrist and guiding him in as he pushed Sora's back gently, gesturing him so he'd move. He then closed the door.

"Okay. You guys sit there," The oldest guy pointed a couch, "I'll take some stuff first." Then he went inside a room, slamming the door shut behind him.

At the moment Sora walked in, he swept his gaze trough the place. The apartment was divided into a room –he guessed it was the bedroom—a bathroom right next to it and a kitchen was placed on the far side over the counter that separated it from the living room. A tiny coffee table near the kitchen had been knocked over and few empty cans were scattered across the floor. A blanket had been thrown over a dull-green colored couch and some books that Sora recognized immediately as part of one of his favorite series laying down on the end of the couch. A glass table stood in front of the couch and, far across it, an old TV on a plywood drawer put against the wall. it was messy, but it seemed like the place had been cleaned recently. There was one thing that bothered Sora, though: the place was big. Way too big for one person. '_Maybe he has a roommate' _he he could walk any further, a trembling hand jerked his own back, asking him to stop.

"Sora! Th-this is our tutor?" Roxas whispered. Sora turned his body so he could get a good look on his friend's expression: a bright pink blush was running across Roxas' face. His ears were red and he was biting his lips.

"Mhm. Roxas, you're overreacting, you know?" Well, for as long as Sora had know him, Roxas had never taken a compliment nicely. But this time he had crossed the line. "Why? He's just joking." He wasn't really sure about that as well, but he was just trying to calm his friend down.

"Yeah, overreacting, says the one who wouldn't stop bragging about an extra class with Mr. Volk." He replied with an acute sarcasm. "But, NO! You don't get it, Sor!" Roxas pulled him closer. "I've met this man before at a cafe."

"And?" Sora couldn't figure the blonde's point.

"He was staring at me. Smirking! Just like the way he did earlier. And, and—"

"So it's legit enough to call him a chimo? Well, it _is_ creepy, but not exactly a chimo." Sora cut him and patted Roxas' arm. "Anyway, I'll make sure he won't do any harm to you, so stop your paranoid mind. We have to pass chem, remember? "

"But—" Roxas was interrupted by the sudden slam of an opened door. The redhead walked in with some books on his hands. A pencil was stuck between his temple and his left ear. The boys put their bags down and sat on the intended couch, while the slender man put his books down on the table and grabbed a chair to sit in front of it.

"So, a guy called me and offered me to tutor you guys for some good money. He said that he knew my number from one of his worker." He offered a friendly smile while his green eyes were scanning at the high school students.

"That must be my father." Sora answered.

"Oh, I see. Well, I guess we can start with some introduction?" He sounded unsure about his own words but Sora and Roxas nodded without any further question. "I'll start then. The name's Axel, I'm 22. I'm actually working on a cafe, but due the high living cost in this goddamn city, I decided to be a tutor of my favorite subject as well. Oh, and another thing," he sent Roxas a playful smile and continued. "I'm not a chimo. Got it memorized?" Another nod was given by Sora, but a grimace was plastered on Roxas' face.

"My name is Sora," he glanced at Roxas who seemed to refuse talking, "and this is Roxas. Uh, by the way..." he hesitated. "Do you like reading?"

"Why?" Axel arched his eyebrows, clearly not expecting that question at all.

"You see, those books," Sora pointed them with his finger, "they're my favorite series!" Sora was eager: he might have finally found another fan of the series that he liked called 'Kingdom Hearts'.

"Oh, that." He blinked a few times, thinking for a while. "I don't like reading. They belong to my roomie." Sora was right, this guy didn't live by his own. "He is a nice guy, saved my sorry ass few times. But he's away right now." He shrugged.

"Can we just start?" Roxas' sudden question startled both Axel and Sora.

"Right. Sorry." Axel quickly apologized, scratching his head.

He took a book that he had brought earlier, opened the first page and started to teach them from the basic, since both guys hadn't understand anything. Part of it was probably due to the fact that Larxene had been blabbering a lot in her class. Blabbering about her personal life, to be exact, so it wasn't surprising that most of the students didn't pass her test. They could only guess why a teacher like her was allowed to work. But Axel was different from Larxene. At first Sora and –especially- Roxas had been highly doubtful of that red haired tutor, but when they went through their lesson, they were surprised: he had taught them every important thing straight to the point, and he had been really helpful; after some exercises, the boys had grasped the basics easily. They were both thankful. Roxas had been quiet most of the time, while Sora had aggressively asked everything he needed to know. After 2 hours, they had understood all that Larxene had been teaching for 2 weeks.

"I think both of you have mastered the basics now." Axel smirked, satisfied by his teaching skills. "That's enough for today."

"Yeah. Thanks a lot, Axel, you're a great tutor." Sora grinned. He was relieved to finally be able to understand chemistry. It wasn't as difficult as it used to be.

Axel nodded while glancing at Roxas who was still in silence. "Take off that gloomy face of yours, will ya?" Roxas glared at him. "Wow, you look like a _hot emo_ now." He kept glaring at him, just now a deadly one. And a light blush on his cheeks. Axel laughed, without giving the blonde the time to scream 'chimo' again, put his hands in the air, surrenderring. "Alright, got it, Roxy doesn't like to be called 'hot'."

He flinched at the nickname. "Just quit messing with me." Roxas sighed covering his face with his palm, embarrassed by the heat on his cheeks. Suddenly Roxas' phone rung, playing 'Simple and Clean'. Axel mumbled something about Utada Hikaru, but he ignored it. He quickly dug into his trousers and answered the phone. "Hey, Dem."

"_Yo,Roxas. I'm on the parking lot." _A familiar voice replied from his phone. He was supposed to pick his brother and Sora after their course with Axel.

"Okay, we'll be there in a second." He ended the call and grabbed his bag that had been lying on the floor for the whole time. The blonde stood up, followed by Sora and then Axel.

"Thanks, Axel. We'll get going, then." Sora smiled at the man. Roxas just nodded and gave a grateful glance at Axel. He grabbed the brunet's wrist, pulling him: he had been waiting to get out from that room since the beginning. Away from that chimo.

"Yeah. See you next week, boys. I'll miss ya." Axel put a wide grin as he walked toward the door to open it for the boys. His eyes followed Roxas as he got out from his apartment. After they left him alone, he closed the door. "Roxas." He mumbled, chuckling.

It was around 5 pm and the sky had been painted with a mixture of crimson red and orange. Two boys got off the elevator and started marching towards the parking spot, looking for Roxas' older brother. When they heard a honk from their right, both of them turned their faces that way. Demyx was there, poking his head out if the window of his baby blue colored car, waving his hand at them. Another guy was sitting next to him. As they walked closer, Sora realized it was Zexion. The boys took the back seat.

"How was it?" Demyx asked with a cheerful voice as he started his car.

Roxas didn't say a single word, so Sora decided to answer. "That tutor was awesome! He's good at teaching, we should replace Larxene with him!" The older blonde laughed at Sora's answer.

"We've been waiting for her to be replaced. Too bad you have to face your sophomore year with her." Letting out another laugh, he drove the car out of the parking lot and started to accelerate.

"Yeah. But, the tutor acts weird. He's been hitting Ro—mmph." Roxas' palm had already made its way to Sora's mouth, covering it. Roxas shook his head in panic, telling Sora not to talk about their tutor furthermore.

"He's been hitting my head. A lot. On a table." Roxas couldn't find any better way to cover it. Sora was confused. He elbowed Roxas and mouthed 'what's wrong?' Roxas didn't answer.

"Huh. That's weird." Demyx snorted, not buying it of course but not caring about it anyway. "Oh, by the way, I hope you don't mind Zexy coming along. I just picked him up from your bookstore, Sora." He changed the subject and glanced at Zexion who hadn't made any sound at all, lost in his thoughts.

"My father's." He corrected him. Actually, Sora never went to Cloud's bookstore. He didn't have to, because everytime he needed a book, Cloud would simply take it home with him.

The trip was short and quiet. After Sora reached his 'home sweet home', he finished his day with the usual shower-dinner-homework-sleep routine.

* * *

><p>One day had passed since Sora's first meeting with his chemistry tutor. The youngest Strife had been waiting for that day: the day where he would have had his first extra class with his favorite teacher! He had showed his grin to every single person he had met at school: he simply couldn't keep his lips from grinning, or at least smiling. After he had gone through some lessons, the lunch break bell rung in excitement. Sora and Roxas marched to the cafeteria and sat with Demyx and Zexion as usual.<p>

"You've been smiling all day, Sora. You'd rip your mouth apart pretty soon." Demyx stared at the brunet in amazement, as he had no idea how he could kept his mouth in an 'u' shape for such a long period of time. "What happened?"

"This doofus is having an extra class with _his _Mr. Volk." Roxas massaged his temple: maybe he had gotten a migraine from his smiling friend who couldn't stop talking about his "perfect, gorgeus, amazing, -did I mention 'perfect'?- biology teacher".

"Extra class with Mr. Volk?" The quiet man asked, which made 2 pair of blue eyes and a pair of green ones looking at him in a second. Zexion looked away, embarrassed by the sudden attention to him.

"Yep." Sora answered quickly, not letting them distract him from his lunch.

"I see. He's kind enough for that, isn't he?" Zexion shrugged and swept his bangs with his slender fingers. Sora nodded, but Zexion was already focusing again to his lunch.

"Now, now, Sora. You really like _that_ guy? You can't be serious. Not to be an asshole, but he's a _teacher._ Like, _male teacher_." Demyx scrathed his nose.

"Demyx, what's wrong with _you_ and _gay love_?" Zexion asked slowly. He was offended of course, clearly shown by the expression on his face. Demyx panicked at the dark blue haired man's reaction.

"Wait, sorry Zexy. I didn't mean to offend you or Roxas, but as a straight male, I just want to tell Sora that there are plenty of boobs to be seen before choosing a dick instead."

"I'm 16, Dem. I can choose who I want to be with." Sora didn't mind at all. He knew that with him having a crush on Riku, Demyx would have been the only straight male between the four of them.

After a while, the bell rung again, telling the students to get back to where they belonged and the lessons continued. They passed the rest of the lesson impatiently waiting, especially Sora. Of course he couldn't wait and Kairi could only wonder why; she knew that Sora was a package of smiles and laughs, but that time he was really breaking his record. Sora wouldn't tell her a thing, though: even if kind of selfish, he was afraid that by telling Kairi about his rendez-vous with Riku, she'd ask to join their extra class. When the final bell screamed, Sora packed his bag quickly. He couldn't be more excited than that. After zipping his bag, he ran through the door to leave, but he stopped at the last step and turned back to Roxas to yell: "Adios, Roxas! Wish me luck!". Roxas shrugged, but in the end he laughed. It was funny to see his friend in such spirit; he had never thought Sora could be happier than usual. The brunet rushed to the teacher room where he could find Riku that, as expected, was in his desk. He noticed Sora through the window and waved at him, smiling. Sora opened the door and slipped in, making his way to his crush's desk. Riku pulled a chair near him and motioned Sora to sit on it. The brunet laid his bag on the floor and sat: he was panting, and Riku smiled at him.

"You don't have to run, Sora. I'm not going anywhere." He gave Sora a crooked smile. '_That was one sexy smile, teacher.'_ Still gasping for breath eagerly, he only gave a quick nod. "Okay, let's start, then."

Sora had been looking at Riku for the whole time. After all he had to pay his attention to the teacher, even though 'attention' in Sora's mind was quite different with 'attention' students usually give to their teachers. Sometimes he nodded to make Riku sure that he had been listening at him. Trying not to be distracted by the teacher and focused on his words instead, but sometimes he failed and ending up with Riku asking him if he was still listening having to repeat his last sentence to make sure Sora didn't miss anything. The fourth time Sora's mind started to trail off from its focus, Riku snapped his fingers in front of him, making the brunet flinch.

"Focus, Sora." The teacher sighed. "Your eyes are staring at me, but your mind is nowhere to be found."

"I'm sorry, sir." He rubbed the back of his neck guiltily and looked down at his lap.

"Something is bothering you?" Riku asked him, suddenly lifted Sora's chin in a gentle movement. Riku leaned his body forward, shortening the gap between them. Their eyes met. "Or perhaps _someone?_" His voice was quiet enough to be considered as a whisper, emphasizing the last word.

Sora's heart was thumping so hard that he felt like all of his blood was being pumped to his face. He gaped for a few second, trying to find an answer to the teacher's question. Well, it wasn't like he would have answered that it was _him _who had been in his mind, of course. "N-no, sir." All of Sora's ability to speak had been wiped away in a single gesture of Riku. The teacher stared at him deeply, in an expression that Sora couldn't figure.

"Good." Riku's fingers left Sora's chin. He drew his body back, relaxed it on his chair and then crossed his hands in front of his chest. "Anyway, we're done. Come again next week, Sora."

The small boy couldn't make any word, still surprised by what had just happened. He nodded and marched out of the teacher's room. After leaving, he mumbled something, slightly smiling: "Of course I will come."

A/N: More Riku! And hey, Demyx was straight? Don't worry at the end he will be with Zexion because I want to. Also, I just want to say that this story might end in 2 more chapters. BUT I will write some side story about what happened between Axel and Roxas PLUS Zexion and Demyx (so there will be 2 more extra chapters). Thank you for reading, see you on the next chapter, and leave a review if you can! -Anwy


	5. Rumors and Unknown Senior

A/N: Hello! Sorry for the long update, me and **SoRikuRox **have been busy for the past weeks :) but he still took his precious time to beta-read this chapter! So, thanks to him ;) And you guys better check his story, **Dearly Beloved**, which is absolutely amazing. You'd love it! Also, I'm so excited because I'm getting Nintendo 3DS for my upcoming birthday! Kingdom Hearts 3D will be my first 3DS game, of course. Okay, that's all. Enjoy this chapter! -Anwy

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><p><strong>Chapter V – Rumors and Unknown Senior<strong>

Sora couldn't sleep that night—or to be exact, morning. It was 2:04 am and the boy could only stare at his low ceiling. _'Man, I don't know if Mr. Volk was just teasing me.' _He wondered quietly, alone inside the dark bedroom. The moonlight was shining through his windows, creating some streaks of light on his warm blanket. What had just happened that day—well, yesterday—was unexpected.

"_Something is bothering you? Or perhaps _someone?"

Those words kept echoing inside the brunet's mind, undying. Why would Riku said something like that? His drying eyes told him that staying late wouldn't give him any answers, so in the end Sora tried to let his head read. After another hour of trying, he eventually drifted to sleep and dreamt about Riku.

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><p>"SORA!" Sora jumped out of his bed, eyes as huge as golf balls with some red puffs around it. "You're going to be late! Get up!" Cloud pinched his son's cheek, trying to fully awake the brunet. After having uselessly tried to awaken Sora by calling him, the father had decided to personally check on his son, only to find him drooling on the pillow.<p>

"Oh shoot!" After a needed moment to regain his consciousness, he rushed to the bathroom, taking a less-than-two-minutes shower. Then, almost slipping on the floor, he managed to miserably put his uniform on. He quickly grabbed his bag, ran to the kitchen, gulped his milk down, brought the bread with his mouth and made his way to Leon's car. A grumpy Leon was waiting for his son and as soon as Sora got inside, he abused the accelerator to drive his son to school and himself to the nearly late job. Sora chomped the bread quickly in their way while tapping his fingers on his lap, trying to calm himself. Arriving at school, he said 'sorry' and 'goodbye' to Leon and ran to his class quickly. Barging in with the usual loud noise, he found Riku in the middle of teaching. Everyone's attention suddenly shifted to him, including the teacher's.

"Good morning, but you're late, Sora Strife." Riku calmly greeted him with something that didn't sound like a greeting at all.

"Yes... I guess. Sorry, sir." Sora scratched his head sheepishly, definitely embarrassed by the situation. He quickly marched towards his seat, where Kairi welcomed him with a worried look. The teacher's eyes didn't leave Sora until he sat down, then he continued the interrupted lesson. The red haired girl next to Sora told him what he had missed earlier—not much, actually—and the brunet followed the lesson as if there was nothing wrong earlier. From a far away chair, Roxas gave him a concerned look, but the brunet waved his hand dismissively and mouthed 'I'm okay', so the blonde nodded and turned back to his book.

"Hey, Sora." Kairi whispered to Sora, immediately catching his attention. She threw a crumpled paper in a swift motion, landed on his desk smoothly. Sora opened it, only to find few words:

'_Sora! Did you know that some students say Mr. Volk has a relationship with a senior here?!'_

His brows furrowed when he read it, completely shocked by that rumor. Taking his pencil, he wrote a reply to her:

'_I'm discovering it right now. Don't believe in rumors, Kairi. 'nuff said.'_

Sora quickly put it on Kairi's desk and gave her some seconds to read it. She shrugged. He knew that he shouldn't be concerned, but the rumor piqued his curiosity. _'Is that true? I thought he was interested in me. Maybe my imagination has crossed the limit' _His nose crinkled and a tint of jealousy filled his innocent heart. But he didn't even know _who_ he was jealous with. And after all, it was only a mere rumor, might be some misunderstanding from an irresponsible student. Or maybe from someone that meant bad to the teacher. Who knows?

Just when Riku was starting to draw a picture of a frog, the bell stopped him with its ear-wrecking sound, making him jump. It had always been loud and shocking, everyone admitted it. "Okay, I guess we will talk about frogs on our next meeting. Goodbye, class." He put the marker cap back and, as usual, at the last step before making his exit, he glanced at Sora and offered him his pearly-white smile. Sora smiled back even though Riku had already gone. A little chatter could be heard from outside, perhaps he was talking to someone. After a minute or two, someone appeaered on the door: Larxene.

"Oh, that teacher. Riku is always so charming, isn't he?" She was smiling, but her personality made it more like smirking and her tone sounded more like a scoff rather than a praise, so Sora wasn't sure if she was being serious or sarcastic. Chemistry didn't bother Sora at all, considering that Axel could taught him and Roxas better, so the brunet had started to only pretend to listen to Larxene, with his mind actually wandering somewhere else.

Finally, chemistry and 2 other subjects done, the lunch break came, just right before Sora could fall asleep on his wooden desk. Feeling fully awake, he reached Roxas' desk to go to the cafeteria together. Both of the boys started to walk together through the hallways and rumors from giggling female students could be heard easily without any effort.

"Do you believe that Mr. Volk is _gay_?" A half whispering girl with pony tail said, suddenly taking her friends attention with the topic.

"Mr. Volk? That new biology teacher?" One of her friends gasped, while the others seemed not surprised, most certainly already knowing that rumor.

"Yes, him! Some people said that he is close with one of the senior. No one knows who is that, though."

"Too bad, then. That senior must be so lucky. Mr. Volk is so hot!" Another girl with short hair laughed, but admittedly understood about the "hot" part.

"But I'd heard that Ms. Larxene has a crush on him..."

"Then it is a love triangle!" The girl with blonde hair giggled, happy with her conclusion. The others nodded in agreement, believing that was true.

Sora scowled when he heard that, but again, he decided not to believe a bit of it. And Roxas was wise enough to chose not to say anything, knowing that his friend wouldn't have liked to talk about that matter. They marched slightly faster while the group of girls were hopping into another rumors.

Just before they reached at the cafeteria, Sora went to the toilet, telling Roxas to reach Demyx and Zexion first and he would catch up later. He was washing his hand when he almost bumped into someone.

"Oh, hello, Sora." Riku smiled at him, taking a step back to make some space between them. "Why did you come late today?"

"Um, well... I got up late this morning." He blushed, not necessarily because of the fact that he had been late. And anyway he couldn't really blame himself, it was Riku that actually made him late. To be exact, the teacher's small gesture that made such ripple effect.

Riku chuckled, shaking his head. "I was worried that you won't turn up at all. I thought you were sick or something." A pair of blue green orbs squinted in amusement, staring at Sora relentlessly. Riku's lips formed a playful smile which made him look younger, no older than any of the students in Twilight High.

The brunet's mouth drooped into a small 'o', realizing that the teacher was worried about him. _'Mr. Volk was worried? Or maybe he is just trying to be nice...'_ Sora wondered, trying to kill his hopes so it wouldn't get up high, eyes still sticking on Riku's face. _'After all, if the rumor was true—'_

"Are you still here, Sora?" The silver haired young adult snapped his fingers in front of his student, making sure he was alive and instantly cutting his thought. "And I need to use the restroom, if you don't mind."

Sora apologized when he realized that he had been blocking the teacher's way in, so he moved aside. The brunet left the teacher to do his business and ran to the cafeteria.

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><p>3 months later.<p>

The last few weeks had passed slowly with nothing unusual happened. Tuesdays went by with Roxas always acting fervently towards Axel, each week getting worse: the tutor couldn't help himself but to tease Roxas, thus their meetings had always been some kind of disaster. On the contrary, the brunet and his favorite teacher had grown closer and closer every Thursday. Sora had discovered a lot about Riku: he hated sweets to the point he had to give the chocolates he got every year on valentine days to his friends, he lived in an apartment with a friend, he also liked the 'Kingdom Hearts' series too, so they had talked about it sometimes, he used to be an assistant professor for a year and, apparently, Larxene had hit him for a while (that rumor was true, then, but the other?). The brunet could only love his teacher more, as he got to know him better in each meeting. Plus, Sora had obtained the privillege to just call him "Riku" instead of "Mr. Volk"! But one thing bothered Sora: he couldn't prove the rumor about Riku having a relationship with a senior in Twilight High was true. It seemed like the silver haired man wasn't aware of it and there was no clue about the unknown senior. Or maybe there was, but he just hid it from Sora. After all, the brunet was only a student and there was absolutely no reason Riku would tell him about his personal life. It was only Wednesday, but it seemed that Sora was almost dying from his hunger of extra class.

"Why does it take forever to get to Thursday?" Sora groaned, slouched tiredly on a chair next to Roxas. They had just came back from P.E. on the field and were reaching their biology class. But still, the only classes Sora wanted were those alone with his crush. He had noticed that the teacher had been giving him some kind of attention: his behavior towards Sora was different compared to the others. But it wasn't like the brunet felt he was special or such: probably _his score_ was the reason why Riku was concerned about him—those glances or sometimes a little touchings when Riku walked next to him, those were probably just to make sure that Sora was still listening to him.

"Sora, you meet him 3 times every week, not to mention your extra classes!" His chest deflated as he huffed. "I only met _him _every Tuesday." The last sentence was whispered quietly that Sora thought only bats could hear him.

"Wait, _who_ do you mean by 'him'?" A silence of thought passed by. "GOD, ROXAS, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT AXEL?" Sora drew his chair closer and shoved his face in front of Roxas', only leaving 6 inches of air between their noses.

Roxas punched him hard on the shoulder, demanding the brunet to shut his mouth. His face was redder than a tomato, almost topping Axel's hair. "N-no, of course not! Goddamnit, Sora, do you have to scream it until the whole world hear? Plus, I won't date a chimo. Ever." Slapping his hands on his face to cover it, he made an exasperated sigh.

Before the brunet could start teasing his friend, the teacher Sora had been waiting for showed up at the door.

"Okay guys, sit down. Let's start today's lesson." Riku walked to his desk, putting down some books and papers on it before starting his routine. He continued last week's topic strolling around the class as he was teaching them, as usual. Nearing Sora's desk, Riku walked a heartbeat slower. His gaze stopped on the brunet who stared back at him, while his mouth kept talking about enzymes in human intestine. The moment the teacher passed Sora, he brushed his hand lightly on the student, giving him goosebumps behind his neck. Although they had been close during the last 3 months, Sora couldn't get used to the teacher's gestures towards him. His heart couldn't slow its pace and without being able to control it, a blush always came onto his face, but he was enjoying it nevertheless. The lesson finished quickly with Riku giving a homework to his students which was responded with groans and protests. Again, the dazzling-special-smile which was special to Sora wasn't forgotten.

Everything was okay on the rest of the lessons, except for Roxas who had trains of never-ending topics about his chemistry tutor every time a period ended and the teacher hadn't turned up yet: he kept talking about how creepy he was and how he made him feel uncomfortable every time he visited the café he worked at. Roxas only stopped when Sora pointed out that the if blonde kept talking about the "weird chimo" it could start to sound as if he was missing him. Roxas denied him with a punch that the brunet avoided. Another few hours of lessons later, the moment they had been waiting came: lunch break. The boys went to their usual seat, meeting Demyx and Zexion like always. Both of the seniors had already started eating their lunch, but oddly enough, in an awkward silence. Demyx had never let any of them in such condition: either he would ask someone some stuff to start a conversation, or he would just start talking endlessly about everything he could talk about. But this time, he didn't even bother to make a sound.

"Why are you guys so quiet today? Something happened?" Sora asked to them, completely puzzled with that unnusual situation.

"Nah, it's okay." Demyx smiled in denial, but his façade wasn't perfect and Sora could sense a tinge of sadness in his green eyes. Roxas could only stare at his brother, as confused as Sora. They had never seen Demyx like that. Not to mention that Zexion, who usually was calm and collected, was quite jumpy that day. He kept shifting in his seat uncomfortably, getting easily startled every time Sora tried to make a conversation. It could be seen clearly that the steel blue haired man wasn't comfortable with the situation, maybe because he was used to hear the older blonde's voice every single second, even if usually it seemed like he wasn't interested in anything Demyx talked about. Definitely something had happened between them. At the end, it was Sora—with some help from Roxas—who tried to keep some conversations. Sora couldn't stand that situation: he hated silence, especially when they were supposed to have some fun between friends.

Suddenly Demyx stood up, which made Sora flinch in shock, quickly turning his face to him as his talking was interrupted. The older blonde sighed, getting off from the cafeteria chair.

"I have class now." Demyx didn't look at any of them, while the others were staring at him in silence. After a second, Demyx glanced at the other senior and said: "Good luck, Zexion." Leaving without any other words. Sora and Roxas didn't even dare to ask the other man what had just happened and what he meant by "good luck", so the three of them finished their lunch in a thick silence, until the bell broke it into pieces.

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><p>"See you tomorrow, Rox!" The brunet waved his hands to Roxas as they parted ways. Walking alone, Sora pondered that even after 3 months, the rumor about Riku was still present and the senior in question had never been revealed. Of course he was curious, but he couldn't just ask it to Riku out of the blue. He understood his position: his feelings towards Riku were just one-directional.<p>

Sora arrived in front of his small-but-comfortable house and just like any other day, no sign of life from the inside. He opened a zipper on the side of his bag to fetch his key, but it wasn't there. It was as empty as the class room at lunch break. Other than junk like candy wrappers or crumpled eraser bits, his key was nowhere to be found.

"Great." He started complaining to his door. His key must be left inside. He knocked on the door few times, but of course no one was there to answer. After a couple of minutes of brain storming, he finally decided it would be best to go to Cloud's bookstore: that way he could go home with him later. Slowly he made his way to the bookstore which took 15 minutes by feet. The bookstore could be noticed easily, its small frame fitting neatly on the corner. The walls were made of red bricks not painted, to give vintage feeling. The door was made of dark chocolate colored oak and a sign of "open" was hanging on it. The knob was gold colored and had some ornaments around it, shining under the afternoon light. Some potted plants were hooked from the ceiling, making the building looked fresh. The huge glass window was encased with white wood and Sora could see shelves of books from where he was standing. A vintage wooden plaque that read as "The Advent" completed the look. He just needed to cross the road to get there.

Right before his right leg landed on the asphalt to cross the empty road, he saw some familiar figure behind the window. One of them was Riku, in a working uniform. _'Riku works here?' _and another one was approaching him, a well-known senior with bangs covering the right side of his face: Zexion. And he couldn't believe what happened. He froze in place as if he had been sedated by an anesthetic, his heart skipped a beat, eyes widened in shock and expression completely bemused. Zexion was leaning against the counter and Riku was right in front of him, their lips interlocked for a few seconds to Sora looked like forever. The senior's hands chained behind Riku's neck with the silver haired man just stood there, accepting everything given by Zexion.

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><p>AN: Does that count as cliff-hanger? Haha sorry! I hope you like it, though. Please leave a review, tell me either you like it or not, what was your favorite part, or maybe suggestion to improve my writing skill. Thank you for reading and see you on next chapter! -Anwy

PS: if you like akuroku, check my newest oneshot akuroku fic, **The Cacophony of Love and Violin**.


	6. Shattered

A/N: Hey! It is my birthday today (3 September) and I'm really happy because I can share my happiness at least through this update! Also I'm specially thankful for **SoRikuRox **who actually makes this possible—it took him no more than two days (or even a day?) to proof-read this so I can publish this chapter right on my birthday, and he still did his job perfectly. Kudos to him :) Happy reading! -Anwy

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><p><strong>Chapter VI – Shattered<strong>

The brunet stood there, consciously choosing to be immovable even in the case a meteor about to crush him. Sora felt every cell inside his body stopping, making him feel numb, trying to neglect the stinging pain in his chest. His silver haired crush was being kissed by a person he hadn't expected. _Kissed_. After some painstaking seconds passed, the kiss finished with a blushing Zexion. They seemed to talk for a while and the senior seemed to flush, but Sora was no good at reading lips so he had no idea what they were talking about, not to mention that his brain had been successfully demolished by what he had just seen. A tear fell from the azure eyes when Riku unknowingly glanced out of the window and found Sora right across the street. The teacher opened his mouth ajar in surprise, staring at Sora who was already running away back to his home, hoping to shelter himself from the unwanted view.

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><p><em>Knock. Knock. Knock.<em>

Three knocks on Sora's door echoed throughout the room, where the crestfallen boy had been hiding until morning.

"Sora, are you okay? You will be late for school," Cloud said worryingly from the other side of the door. Since yesterday, his son had been unusually quiet. He would have never expected Sora to be this depressed and, as a father, of course he was clearly concerned. Even Leon, who wasn't used to pay much attention to him, was being quite chatty in attempt to fish some words out of his son's mouth. But no one actually knew what had just happened, although Cloud was really sure it could be something serious.

No answer could be found, so the blonde got into the room slowly, only to find a ball of Sora, fully covered with his blanket. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he carefully patted the blanket.

"Are you not feeling well? You can stay at home if you want to." His voice was full of concern, prying some words from Sora's throat to at least ease his mind a little bit. Suddenly the ball opened up to reveal the brunet inside.

"I will go to school," he said shortly. Without glancing at his father's eyes even for a second, he nonchalantly walked towards the bathroom and took a shower. Cloud sighed, resigned that his son wouldn't have told him what was troubling him. Maybe he shouldn't be this concerned—after all Sora was only a teenager and he knew teenagers could be overly sensitive.

When he finished the shower and a silent breakfast, Leon drove Sora to the school. Chatting wasn't the older man's forte, and knowing that Cloud had failed to discover his son's problem, he knew that he wouldn't have done any better than his husband. Arriving at school, Leon left his son, silently praying for everything to be resolved by the end of the day.

Not only Cloud and Leon, Roxas too was as worried as them. It was weird for him to see his best friend, who usually was the happiest boy in the world, turned up with the face of the saddest puppy on the street. Let alone the fact that today was Thursday, it definitely couldn't be worse than that.

"What happened, Sora?" Roxas approached the burnet quickly, not minding the fact that the school would start soon. "Does it have something to do with Mr. Volk?" He guessed carefully, afraid that he might hurt him. Sora didn't speak, but gave him a single nod in lieu of answer. The blonde had no idea what to say to his friend to comfort him. "Uh," he tried to think of any calming support but nothing good came into his mind. "How about we talk about this at lunch?"

Another nod was made and then the bell rang noisily in its usual manner. Hesitantly, Roxas retorted to his desk, still worried about the gloomy aura around the brunet.

Sora rested his head on the desk, with everything that had happened at the bookstore overflowing in his tired mind. Of course the restless sleep he had had didn't help at all: a migraine climbed onto his head viciously. _'Riku __has __never mentioned Zexion... Or maybe it was me who was too oblivious to see the fact that they __were__ together.' _It hurt his heart only to think at his crush's name. How could he have overlooked the facts? All this time, the way Zexion perked up every time Sora talked about Riku, the way he questioned Sora about the extra class, how he visited his father's bookstore, knowing that Riku was working there. The brunet could only press his lips together, holding the wails that were ready to burst out at any second. Now he was thinking whether to go to his extra class or not. The thought of seeing Riku sounded like a bad idea... He wouldn't have known how to act around him anymore. It was embarrassing to think that he had always felt close with the teacher and suddenly discovering he had been proven dead wrong. He might have not known Riku _at all_.

The lessons that day were nothing compared to Sora's problem, so he ignorantly abandon every teachers' words on that day. Few times he had gotten warnings about listening to his teachers, but none of them had been taken seriously by the boy. Sora kept acting that way until Biology finally came.

"Good morning, class." The familiar voice of Riku greeted the class, an octave lower than usual, few decibels quieter compared to the other days. Being anxious, the brunet didn't dare to look at Riku, avoiding any eye contact with the teacher. He didn't exactly ignore him, but he didn't put redundant attention to the silver haired man just like he used to be. "Okay, back to our last meeting's topic... the frog." Riku then proceeded to the whiteboard, scrawling a picture of a frog vaguely; it almost didn't resemble one at all. Sora realized that the teacher wasn't in the best condition: he wasn't focused on his teaching. Riku sounded much more hesitant and his eyes weren't focused on things they should have been. Something must be in his mind, but was that Sora's concern? Yes and no. Yes, Riku was still his crush, and no, Riku was nothing more than a crush.

As usual, the biology teacher marched around the class, but that day the pace was a tad slower. Riku finally started to walk towards Sora's desk, nearing, but just when the usual skin-to-skin contact between him and the teacher should have happened, the brunet drew his body closer, clearly avoiding the touch. Surely Riku realized that there was something wrong with the brunet—most certainly by what had happened yesterday when he was in the bookstore with Zexion. Riku didn't say a thing, though, and his expression didn't change at all. Maybe the man had expected such reaction from Sora. Or maybe the man had _never cared_ in the first place. And Sora couldn't help himself but crying silently in his desk out of being heartbroken, hoping no one would hear him wail. The teacher didn't notice the tears; therefore he kept teaching without the questioning look on his face that Sora had always adored.

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><p>Demyx was there, sitting alone (where was Zexion?) with his untouched lunch in front of him. Roxas couldn't have been more confused that day: he was facing two depressed boys with unknown reasons. The blonde's brother had been even quieter at home after what had happened between him and Zexion. The oldest blonde looked at the sophomores, staring blankly at each of them, his hands was put inanimately on his lap.<p>

"Hey." Demyx tried to form something that could hardly be considered as a smile. Roxas stared deeply into his brother, puzzled. "You know, Rox? I think you can eat my lunch, I'm not really hungry." And Demyx quickly stood up from his chair and left just before any protest managed to escape Roxas' mouth. The two of them were now sitting together, eating their lunch in silence until Roxas decided it was about time to ask Sora. He might not have been able to solve the brunet's problem, but at least he could have been a good listener.

"Talk, Sora. I will listen." Half whispering, Roxas pleaded to the boy that was sitting across him.

Sora huffed and, for the first time in that day, his eyes met the blonde's own. Roxas shivered when he saw those eyes—he had never seen such sadness in them. "Zexion," uttered the brunet briefly, his voice was trembling, breaking on the last syllable. "They were at the bookstore. Th-they were kissing." Sora's eyes were wet with tears, pooling on the surface, wanting to flood the face without any warnings.

Roxas was then much more lost than before, not even sure of what Sora was talking about. "I'm not following you."

"I was in front of Cloud's bookstore." The brunet tried to explain, now with much more control of his voice. "I saw Riku and Zexion kissing. End of the story."

'_Okay'_, Roxas thought, _'now what?' _Roxas was utterly gaped, trying to make some words. "So the rumor was true, then?" He couldn't believe what Sora had told him anyway: he had always thought rumors had never been true.

"Yeah..." A sad smile crept onto Sora's lips, making him look more desperate than he should have been.

"It's okay, Sora. You will find someone better eventually." A genuine sympathetic smile offered by Roxas with a slight hope that his friend would feel much better. Roxas could only promise Sora that he would be there, accompanying the brunet who was swallowing the hard pill of bitter love story. "It's okay."

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><p>Sora was teetering on his feet, on his way to the infirmary. It seemed that the migraine had gotten worse than he thought hence he had decided to visit the nurse and ask a permission to go home earlier. At least he wouldn't have seen Riku for the rest of the day—skipping an extra class once wouldn't hurt, would it? He opened the door and almost lost his mind with what he saw. Speak of the devil; the teal color eyed teacher was there, talking with the nurse. Their conversation stopped with Sora's sudden appearance and Riku was completely bemused, not expecting such turn of events.<p>

"Can I help you, dear?" The middle aged lady in her nurse uniform asked Sora, approaching him and gently caressing the student's shoulder. She led him to the bed and let the boy sat on it, right next to Riku.

"I-I need to go home." Sora stuttered weakly, eyes meeting the blue green color instantly but leaving it the next second. "I don't feel well, ma'm."

The woman nodded knowingly and asked his name and class. After the answer had been acquired, she marched to a close room, leaving Riku and Sora alone.

"Sora." Flinching, the brunet tried to ignore it. But his head wasn't in a good condition to evade Riku all of sudden. Sora massaged his temples, at least partly to show a gesture so that the teacher would understand that he was sick and in no condition to talk. "Sora," the teacher called again, now more desperate.

"I will skip today's extra class, sir," he quickly muttered, replying to the unavoidable conversation, "sorry."

Riku didn't say anything else, couldn't find any other words. The air was heavy, crushing them down with that hurtful situation. They had never been this cold, it had never been so difficult to talk, so awkward to even look at each other after all the time they had spent together.

The nurse came back with a scrap of paper in her hands, scrawled with some words in black ink. "Give it to your homeroom teacher, boy, and you'll be free to go."

"Let me do it." A sudden volition was made by Riku, surprising both Sora and the nurse. "I'm going back home soon, anyway. I will meet your homeroom teacher on my way."

"Thanks, sir." Sora faintly thanked the teacher for doing him a favor. He made his way outside the infirmary and left the school shortly after that.

* * *

><p>Another night had passed and Sora was laying flat on his bed, not wanting to go to school. He had gone through a restless night, and he could only wonder why he could so easily fall asleep when he shouldn't and now, when he needed it, he simply couldn't. Perhaps it was because he couldn't stop thinking about Riku, who had successfully broken his heart easily, just like breaking a thin layer of ice. He was fragile, really vulnerable when it was about love and crushes, but Sora didn't expect to be Riku the one who would have done it—even if maybe unintentionally.<p>

After reluctantly going to school, Sora lazily went through the few first subjects with no real intention of studying. Roxas was still concerned with his friend's condition, but he admitted that there was nothing he could do: he didn't know the brunet's crush any better and it seemed that comforting words were not needed at all. While Roxas kept thinking about what to do with Sora, the latter was preparing himself: the next period was biology. He might have avoided Riku the day before, but after hours of thinking, he guessed it would have been better to just stop caring to his crush and act as if nothing was wrong, at least until his feelings towards Riku had completely disappeared, vanished without any leftovers at all. Finally the door opened, but, oddly enough, no trace of silver hair could be found. Instead, Larxene came in. The class was immediately filled with murmurs. Sora was unmistakably sure that period was supposed to be biology, not chemistry.

"Guys, calm down. I'm telling you a big news." Her keen voice was filling the now silent class. "Mr. Volk has just quitted this morning."

Other murmurs from the students echoed from every corner of the room until Larxene spoke again, telling the students that she was taking over the period to teach chemistry until they could find a replacement for Riku.

'_Enough.__'_

Sora stood from his chair abruptly. In less than a second, every single eye inside the room turned towards him . He didn't say anything and quickly rushed to the door, meaning to leave the class immediately, only to be, of course, held back by Larxene.

"Where do you think you are going, boy?" The woman demanded an answer angrily, obviously not happy with what Sora was trying to do. "Sit down."

"I need to leave." The brunet didn't even bother to look at his teacher's eyes, keeping on trying to go outside as soon as he could.

The teacher was surprised, her mouth slightly ajar in disbelief, brows knitted together. "You're not leaving. Go back to your seat!" Larxene snapped, losing her patience. But before the blonde teacher could do any harm to the boy, he struggled and eventually escaped from Larxene's grasp. Sora then disappeared as a truant with the voice of Larxene calling out for him.

He huffed in exhaustion of running away and stopped at the park next to the cafeteria, slouched on one of the bench. After making sure no one was there, he fished his phone out from his trouser and quickly dialed Cloud's number.

"_Sora?" _Cloud's genuine confused tone was clearly addressed to his son, 100% in disapproval.

"Is"—he breathed—"Riku there?" He sucked the air deeply, trying to calm his shocked lungs. Sora pulled the back of his shirt which was soggy out of sweat, hating the sticky feels on his skin while impatiently waiting for Cloud's answer.

"_Aren't you supposed to be at school? How can you call me at this time, it's just 11am!" _Of course a father wouldn't just let his son's misdemeanor slip out of his hands.

"I promise I'll explain later. I need to see Riku!" The brunet wouldn't give up easily as he needed to solve everything. After all, he wouldn't be able to study if all he could think about was Riku—or maybe Sora was just justifying himself. But still, he had right to an explanation. He wanted to clear everything up, and the only way to make it happen was to ask Riku himself. "I knew that he worked at your place, no need to deny it."

Cloud hesitated, minding the fact that Riku had told him not to tell his son about him at all and also wanting Sora to answer him instead. But on the other hand, he knew it would be better to let the teenager fix his problems first. Not to mention that his son had never been this persistent and he knew that any words to change his will would have been futile, so Cloud just gave up. _"Go __a__t__Axel's." _The brunet hung the phone up and marched off without any doubts.

After 10 minutes of a running trip by feet, he eventually reached Axel's front door. Sora knocked the apartment door impatiently, as if he had been waiting for ages, until the familiar redhead showed up.

"What a surprise, kiddo. What has brought you here at this time?" Axel greeted in his usual manner, smirking at the brunet.

"I need to talk to Riku." It was an order not a request, and Axel definitely hadn't expected such words. The facetious tutor's expression changed, seemed rather confused and panicked. "I _need_ to talk to Riku." Sora repeated and now his voice was much more insisting, leaving no room for Axel to avoid him.

"This is my apartment," he hesitated. "Um... you might've mistaken it." The redhead's gaze swiveled away from Sora's piercing one, completely unsure how to persuade the shorter boy.

"No need to cover it, Axel. I know you live with him." Of course now it was obvious that Axel was living together with Riku, the roommate they had talked about before. How could he hadn't realized it sooner?

Axel mused for a second, then he finally raised a hand on the air, made a 'wait' gesture to Sora and got inside the room. Sora waited outside, hands folded in front of his chest and he sighed. Some seconds later the chemistry tutor opened the door and beckoned Sora who got in without any hesitation. Riku was there, sitting on the couch, staring at the newly coming boy. His expression was something Sora couldn't guess. The boy's heart was thumping erratically—he was going to fix the imbroglio soon enough. His mind was flooded with questions: why he quitted out of the blue, what kind of relationship he had with Zexion, why it seemed that he had been hiding everything from him and, all above those, how the teacher felt towards him.

"I will... have a nice and fun walk in the park." Axel left them alone, closing the door soundlessly behind him. Sora took a seat on the couch, right next to Riku. The silence was thick, just like the dam of feelings that Sora had been building until that moment.

Sora's heart wouldn't calm down and his hands were trembling. The dam of his feelings slowly cracked, now dripping the droplets of unspoken love towards the teacher. His unadulterated mind was now cobbled with confused thoughts, all swirling and colliding into each other like an uncontrollable traffic jam. He wasn't sure how to start, what to ask first. Should he have explained himself beforehand, maybe? And what kind of expression should he have taken? But then, Sora collected his guts and managed to make a single word: "Explain!"

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><p>AN: Any of you remembered that I said this was supposed to be the last chapter? Apparently I was wrong and there will be another chapter. (Also it turned out that this chapter was the longest one compared to the others...) sorry! But I hope you like this one. Please leave a review, tell me if this chapter is okay... It was difficult to find the right moment to write as I have been having tests until this day. Reviews will make me survive the school! Anyway, thank you for reading, see you on the next chapter (and extra chapters too) -Anwy


	7. My Biology Teacher

A/N: Hello! Sorry for the super long wait, but now the final chapter is here :) Thank you for jessiej1987, SoRikuRox, Yoyito, Minerva Star Shine, MyHamstersHateMe and SilverWingDragon151 for the reviews! And thanks also to all who followed and favorited this story. Also another thank you for SoRikuRox as the beta-reader, you're awesome! Oh, I also updated the cover art :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Cheers! –Anwy.

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><p><strong>Chapter VII –<strong>** My Biology Teacher**

Riku was sitting soundlessly with his teal eyes tracing Sora's face. His silver hair was let down, messier than usual. He was wearing old t-shirt and shorts, totally not presentable. He also looked restless and stressful, his usual pearl-white smile was nowhere to be found and his lips pressed together in a thin line. The lightless surrounding in the apartment actually complemented Riku's appearance: it looked eerie. For the second time, Sora's heart ached, like a new burn wound, when he saw his teacher in such condition. When Sora came closer to Riku on the couch, Axel left them alone to have some private talk.

"Explain!" Sora couldn't even believe that it spurted out from his mouth—it sounded adamant and not Sora-like at all.

The teacher gulped and Sora could see his Adam's apple moving along. He stood up from the couch and gestured Sora to get into the bedroom, where it was much quieter and comfortable to talk. They both sat on the bed, starting some kind of staring contest without making any sound. Riku's body shifted in his place several times, but his gaze was still. A mocking silence was dancing around them, daring them to break it, but none of them did it. At least until Sora made another word.

"Please..." He was utterly hopeless, on the verge of giving up on everything he had done until that moment. He couldn't stand that situation and all he wanted was Riku to talk, to fill him with everything he needed to know. Suddenly, without even realizing it, tears were already streaming down Sora's face.

"Sora!" It was obvious that Riku was feeling guilty, as if admitting a felony, because the next thing he did was drawing the brunet into his arms, tightly securing him inside his muscular hands, hoping it would plead him "not guilty".

But Sora didn't need any hugs, he just needed an explanation. Sora didn't say anything, though, all he could do was wailing behind Riku's warmth, inside the teacher's stiff biceps. At least he got to hug a teacher he had been longing since forever before he actually had to let him go for good. His tears kept rolling down from his eyes while Riku worked his mind to actually come up with something that would calm the brunet down—an answer.

"My father forced me to go back home." Riku's right hand was caressing Sora's back in attempt to ease the crying boy as he was trying to give the brunet some answers. "He wants me to work in our hometown instead of here. He has never agreed about me working at Twilight High."

_Riku had to leave?_

"Also, Cloud told me earlier that you did already know about me working at his place." The teacher was staring emptily at the floor and his hands, which were looping around Sora's body, were now loosening slowly. "I've been working at the bookstore for a year, but you have never actually come to that place."

_Riku had been working there for a year?_

"Now, about Zexion..." Sora tensed up, minding that the question that had been on his mind for 3 months straight now would have finally been answered. He whimpered quietly and grabbed a fistful of Riku's t-shirt. "I know there has been a rumor about me having a relationship with one of the senior at school and I'm really sure they're talking about Zexion." The silver haired man pushed Sora's shoulder gently to make eye contact with him and Sora released his grip. Riku's expression was unreadable, devoid of any clues, which made the brunet flinch slightly nervously. "I sincerely don't know how the rumor even started, but I deny it by all means. I'm not sure if that was what you want to know, but you seemed to be shocked when you saw us at the bookstore."

_Riku wasn't in a relationship with Zexion?_

Sora was still in silence, trying to swallow everything Riku had spilled until that moment. Riku's explanations were shattered fragments and they actually made more questions flood his mind: If Riku's father had never agreed about him working at Twilight High, why he became a teacher there in the first place? If Riku had been working at Cloud's place, why he had never told Sora about it and, oddly enough, asked Cloud to keep it as a secret? And if Riku wasn't seeing Zexion, why did they kiss?

"Why the two of you were you kissing, then?" Sora finally managed to utter some words out of his throat, husky out of the cry, struggling to make it clear enough between sniffles, which actually caught the teacher by surprise.

Riku sighed, staring deeply at the brunet's eyes. "We were not _kissing_. He _kissed _me," he said, emphasizing the difference between words.

'_Kissed?'_

"Zexion and I have been good friends. He used to come to your father's bookstore, and since I'm working there, we have grown close."

'_Friends?'_

"And he would talk about his crush everytime we met, but not even once he mentioned a name. It turned out that his crush was... me."

'_Crush?'_

"That day, when you saw us at the bookstore, he confessed that he had been in love with me and suddenly kissed me. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I didn't push him away, but later I told him that I've never thought about him that way."

'_Confessed?'_

"Then he apologized to me and went home. I haven't heard anything from him at all since then." Riku had never expected that he could've been that dense, not realizing that someone was actually in love with him.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes; the teacher wanted to be sure to give Sora enough time to believe him, while the latter was processing the fact that he had gotten the wrong idea about Riku and Zexion's relationship.

"Why did you tell Cloud not to say anything about you working at his place?" Frankly, Sora wasn't understanding a thing, but he thought it would be better to get the complete story and untangle it slowly rather than solving it by parts.

Riku looked down at his lap, clearly dubious about the topic. After another few seconds of hesitation, he managed to make an answer. "A year ago, I decided to take a job there so I could pay my debt tuition. Since the first day that I've worked there, Cloud had been talking _a lot_ about his son.

"Showing his photos, who are his friends, how he tends to forget his homeworks, how he adores strawberry cakes, how he loves to read a series called 'Kingdom Hearts', how he accidentally set his neighbor's lawn in fire, how he gulps down his milk in 5 seconds and even won a contest for it, how he once actually forgot to zip his pants that his boxer was seen by an old lady next door who then scolded him for being an exhibitionist; pretty much about everything, including where his school is—which was the reason why I decided to work at Twilight High after I graduated." Sora couldn't see his face fully, but he was sure that the silver haired man had a genuine smile adorning his face. He was easily recalling every detail that Cloud had told him, and he could even go on with a handful list of Sora's other embarrassing moments. The brunet felt rushing heat on his cheeks, noting in his mind to make Cloud pay for that humiliating talk.

"Of course I didn't want his son to know about that. It was way too embarrassing." Riku kept staring at his lap, as if it could give him some kind of answers. "Anyway, my father had planned to take me home right after I graduated, but I ran away and rented an apartment with Axel. Old man recently tracked me down and finally found me. He talked to the headmaster and managed to get me out this morning and making it as if I resigned by myself."

"Why did you want to work at Twilight High?" Sora insisted, not really satisfied with Riku's answer.

"I-I already told you, it was because you were there!" The teacher somehow stuttered as a strawberry-like color climbed onto his cheeks. He bit his lips and looked away, timidly trying to hide his face.

"But _why_?"

He turned his face back to Sora doubtfully. The older guy's face was completely flushed, his brows furrowed, lips parted slightly. Before the brunet could ask any further, a soft kiss landed on his lips. A bit rushed, careful and full of uncertainty, but it undeniably made Sora's mind draw blank even after Riku broke the kiss.

"It might be weird to say that I'm actually attracted to my boss' son whom I've never met, 5 years younger than me and only known through his stories. But then we met at school and started to know each other, and the feelings have actually grown stronger and stronger." He made a laugh which sounded like he was pitying himself. Sora's brain quickly noted down his words, carving them onto his almost empty mind. The red tint didn't leave Riku's face, which was now covered with his right palm. "And I know it sounds like I was taking advantages of you by making you come to my extra class. I mean, your score was _actually_ really bad, but in truth I just wanted to know you from yourself. Yeah, maybe I _did_ take advantage of you." His voice was muffled behind his fingers, gingerly escaping the man who was feeling mortified by his own confession. If it was possible, Sora would have thought that he was experiencing a rigor mortis. He couldn't believe what Riku had said, but seeing Riku's bashful expression, he had no doubts that that was the truth.

Suddenly blue green orbs were piercing Sora's cobalt blue eyes, trapping him inside them. Riku's trembling sweaty hands grabbed Sora's shoulder and he took a deep breath. "I like you, Sora, more than a teacher and a student... more than friends." Riku knew that he had nothing more to hide, so he made volition to tell his feelings to the brunet as well. "That was also the reason why I rejected Zexion."

The boy was speechless, mouth ajar in surprise, not sure if he wanted or not to talk. Other than shocking, Riku's statement was soothing, like cold water on a burn wound on his heart. He was finally able to comprehend everything. All the cobbled questions in his head were slowly dying, leaving the brunet in relief.

"I'm sorry, I know this might be... creepy." He scoffed, mostly for himself. "I should've realized my position as a teacher and I shouldn't have taken any advantages... It was inappropriate, I know." The teacher made a heart-breaking smile, his chest deflated as he huffed and he lifted his hands from Sora's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sora. "

Again, the room looked like a graveyard with its silence until Sora smiled and, surprisingly, started to laugh sincerely. Riku shot him a pure confused stare, face bemused and innocent as a newborn baby.

"Riku..." The teacher blinked and Sora continued, "are you always this dumb for not realizing that there are _two _of your students who actually have a crush on you?"

Funny enough, the teacher nodded, which even made Sora's laughter grew even louder. Now the teacher was smirking, but he was still unsure about what Sora was talking about. "So, what are you trying to say?"

"I like you too, duh, with every cell on my body."

"That was a corny biological pick up line, but are you serious?"

"Never been this serious."

Another hearty laughter, but from both of them, now filling the room warmly.

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><p>"<em>Hello? Am I talking to Mr. Volk?" <em> From the other end of the line, Roxas' worried voice was heard when the phone answered after he had relentlessly called the number several times and always ended up on Riku's mailbox.

"Well, this is his phone, but he's not available right now. Who is this?"

"_I'm Roxas. I-I'm looking for my friend, Sora, who is supposed to be with Mr. Volk since this morning!"_

The answerer giggled, obviously amused. "Calm down, blondie." He was clearly smirking judging by his voice.

"_Fuck."_ Dead silence."_Axel! Why are you answering Mr. Volk's phone?" _Roxas furiously yelled on the phone. Axel was sure that the blonde was face-palming himself.

"Watch your language, kiddo. I live with him in this apartment, for your information." Axel was sitting in the living room, one hand holding Riku's phone and the other hand holding a TV remote, flipping through the channels.

"_...I should've guessed that. Uh, so, is Sora there?" _

"He is not right _here_ but..." his voice trailed off, Roxas heard some footsteps, "but _here_."

"_Could you be more descriptive, minding the fact that I'm on the phone and obviously __can't__ see what you mean__by 'here'?" _Axel knew he was being annoying, he was just enjoying to mess up with the raving blonde, a thing he was pretty good at.

Axel was staring at the wide opened bedroom door and he could see Riku and Sora sleeping soundlessly together, both hugging each other. Riku's chin rested on Sora's head, confining the brunet inside his arms. The brunet was smiling in his sleep; his chest was inflating and deflating rhythmically, his hands tangled with Riku's own. The redhead smiled and said, "what I meant by 'here' is in our bedroom. The boy is sleeping with your teacher."

"_SLEEPING? LIKE—"_

"Not in a perverted baby-making way, but in an adorable way, frankly." He could hear a relieved sigh of Roxas which made Axel let out laughter. "But, _we_ can do it in the perverted baby-making way if you want to," he offered, content with his words.

"_Regardless being biologically impossible, I prefer not to do it with you, jackass."_

"Ouch, Roxy. Anyway, I'll tell you when Sora's awake. No worries, I won't do any harm to him. Besides, looks like Riku won't even let me touch the boy."

"_Why would you think so? What is actually going on between them?" _

"I'm not even sure myself, so just ask the boy when he's home. I'll wake them soon enough."

"_Fine. Thanks, Axel, __I'll call__ you later."_

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><p><em>3 years later.<em>

The sky was reddening as the watch showed _16:03_pm. A brunet with spiky hair was walking off a building. He had just finished his first day as a college student and was currently on his way home. When he reached his house, he opened the door quickly. The warm air from his 'home sweet home' welcomed him, inviting him to come in.

"Welcome home, Sora." Cloud's familiar voice greeted him while a quite hum came along from Leon's throat. "We have a guest here."

He managed to get into the living room and he saw a familiar person that was smiling at him with his perfect row of teeth, which made Sora smiled in return.

"Riku!" The brunet ran towards him, rushing recklessly at high velocity. "Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?"

"Surprise, Sora." After a few months not being able to see each other, Riku and Sora couldn't help but feel excited. "I missed you so much."

"If you guys want to have some nice lovey-dovey moments without any parents' interruption, why don't you go to a café?" Leon suggested, clearly not wanting to see his son making out or doing other whatnots that couples do.

Taking Leon's suggestion, they reached the nearest café after a short walk. The couple was walking through the tables when it came across Zexion and Demyx who were chilling out.

"Sora! Mr. Volk!" Demyx waved his hand cheerfully at them as they walked towards the blonde haired man who was sitting with his steel blue haired companion.

"Demyx!" Sora greeted him. He then glanced at the other man, smiling. "Zexion." The boy smiled back at Sora and then at Riku.

"Hey, nice to see you here." Zexion welcomed them with a hearty smile, something he had learned to do as a side effect of being together with Demyx.

The four of them had a short nice conversation, simply enjoying some time together after so much time. Demyx currently was in music major, working his way in being a musician, while Zexion was taking medical school, intending to be a doctor. Funny thing that Demyx turned out to be gay as well and had been in love with Zexion. Sora didn't know much about what had happened between them and they had never told about it to anyone. But after they had gotten together, they were happy nevertheless, so he just let that go: what had happened didn't matter anymore.

After the short reunion, Sora and Riku took a seat on the corner. A blonde boy with working uniform approached them with an ear-to-ear grin, holding a notebook and a pen on his hands.

"Good evening, gentlemen." Roxas ruffled Sora's hair and then shook Riku's hand. "What will you have today?"

"The usual for me and a black coffee for Riku." Sora smiled at his best friend who was on his part-time shift at the café to earn some money. After all, extra money and work experiences would be useful for college students. Roxas marched to the counter where a certain redhead barista was doing his job.

Sora also didn't even know what had happened between Roxas and Axel: one day they suddenly announced that they were officially dating. Sora didn't even know that Roxas had been having "extra courses" with Axel until the blonde forcedly admitted it later. Well, it wasn't like Roxas had to tell Sora whatever he did, but surely the brunet would've appreciated if Roxas did so. But Sora could understand that Roxas was embarrassed that he actually dated the "chimo" he had been "hating" for months. And Sora couldn't be happier to see that his best friend was full of joy.

Now Riku had Sora's full attention. It was obvious they had been missing each other: with Riku living at his hometown, they couldn't meet as much as they used to. They only had the chance to meet each other occasionally, when both were not busy. But they were happy with their current state despite being in a long distance relationship.

"So, how was your first day at college?" Riku held Sora's hand with his bare palm, slowly stroking it in gentle movement with his thumb.

"Not bad! Some professors are weird, but it doesn't really matter." Sora shrugged as the older man let out a chuckle.

"Is there any hot professor who asked you to have an extra class with him?" The biology teacher smirked, teasing Sora that pouted adorably at the question.

"Why should I care if there's any hot professor? I have you." He waved his hand dismissively. "And I'm pretty sure no other teacher would do that to me _except_ you. After all, I'm pretty good with the subject since I've been dating a biology teacher."

They both laughed in unison, loud enough to make some people stare at them curiously. Their ordered beverages came and they kept talking, laughing between sips of coffee, lovingly staring to each other.

Sora currently was studying to become a biology teacher. He had grown in love with biology since his sophomore year and had decided to be a teacher of the subject, just like his boyfriend. Not to mention that Sora got along easier with teenagers with his bubbly personality and never-ending smile, which made him sure that it would make him a great teacher. Riku laughed when he knew that Sora actually took the subject for his study.

Looking back 3 years, it could've been easily concluded that it was quite a tiring start for them, with all the misunderstandings and dramas. But in the end they managed to solve everything, healing each other's wounded heart with the newly sprouted love. Nor Sora or Riku regretted what had happened, because without any of it, they wouldn't be together like now. They had found each other, completing each other, and couldn't be happier. Sora knew they would've been always happy, or even better. And a smile would always appear on his lips every time he remembered the unforgettable day, the first time they met at his sophomore year, when the silver haired man took his first step into the class room: it was there that his life changed.

"I love you, my biology teacher."

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><p>AN: This story is like a baby for me... at least my first (and I will make more :p)! It's really fun to write everything and I'm really happy to know that other people beside myself enjoy this story as well. I learned a lot from writing and I'm pretty sure that I won't stop because writing has become my new hobby. I hope you guys have a lot of fun reading this 7 chapter fic, and don't forget that I'll be making the extra chapters as well, so don't leave yet! Leave a review and let me know how was the ending :) See you later! –Anwy.


	8. Extra Chapter 1

**Extra Chapter – My Hot Emo Blonde**

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><p><em>Clink clink.<em>

The bell on the top of the café door chimed when a blonde boy walked in. He looked around confusedly, like if he was searching for something or, perhaps, someone. But whatever or whoever he was looking for, he couldn't find it, so he decided to take a seat.

Suddenly his phone vibrated inside his pocket and he quickly checked it. The screen showed that there was a new message.

_From: Hayner_

_Roxas! Sorry I can't turn up at the café. I have some stuff to take care of :(._

Roxas sighed deeply, clearly disappointed by his friend's behavior. It wasn't the first time that Hayner suddenly canceled their meeting and, to be honest, Roxas was kind of used by that. But still, a promise is promise and it has to be fulfilled. Anyway, being already there, the blonde thought it wasn't a bad idea to drink something before going home.

Luxord, who was a bored-to -hell waiter at the café, approached Axel, his colleague. The blonde man whispered, nonchalantly smirking towards the red haired man. "See the boy over there?"

"Uh huh. What's with him?" The asked man answered, not even the slighest trace of interest in his voice.

"Date him, and I'll give you 50 bucks. No need to give him your _virgin _kiss, though." Luxord sneered, teasingly nudging his friend with his elbow.

Axel wasn't the type who loved bets and such, but 50 dollars for something he could do easily wasn't a bad offer. Plus, the blonde was _hot,_ so that would make it better. And not to mention that he wouldn't have to kiss him. Just a second later, Roxas raised his hand to order, the redhead immediately started to walk towards him quickly, practically bouncing, swiveling between chairs and tables with his slim waist, looking all jolly and cheerful.

"Hey there, hottie. Wanna order something?" Axel gave him the best smile he could offer.

Roxas grimaced at the word 'hottie' and his nose crinkled. "Of course, you retarded moron. Why would I call you if I wasn't going to order?"

The waiter didn't answer, somehow taken aback by the blonde's answer, which was quite... harsh. Let alone the fact that Roxas was in a bad mood because of Hayner, he always acted unfriendly towards strangers, that red-haired weirdo included.

"Matcha milk float with cocoa powder, iced, half sugar."

"A'ight, blondie. Anything else—"

"Nothing. Just do it quickly."

The red haired _tsk tsk_'d whilst shaking his head, eyes stuck on Roxas' face, as if something was wrong on it. "You're so impatient, blondie."

"Just do your friggin' job and stop calling me that way!" Half yelling, Roxas was pissed off, mostly by the nick name. The waiter was keeping on smirking with a mischievous smile on his face but before the blonde could make another word, the redhead left him, noticing that Roxas wasn't enjoying the wait. After a couple of minutes, he came back with a cup of Roxas' ordered beverage.

"Matcha milk float with cocoa powder, iced, half sugar," he repeated, putting the cup down right in front of the annoyed blonde.

"Blondie, my appetite must be playing tricks on me."

Roxas shot him a what-the-bloody-hell look and then asked: "What?"

Without any doubt in his voice, he smiled and said: "Because I really want to eat you right now. Can I have your number?"

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><p>"Riku! Hey, man, you gotta hear 'bout this." It was dark and Axel had gone back to his apartment. With nothing else to do, he had started watching TV, at least until his roommate came home.<p>

"What is it?" The silver haired roommate replied, sounding tired and lifeless. He must've been tired after work, considering that it was almost 7 pm and he hadn't eaten anything for dinner. "Will you cook something for me first, Ax? I'm starving to death."

"I did it already," he then gestured his hand to the glass table, where a plateful of warm food was nicely put on. Riku put down his bag and sat on the couch, next to his best friend who seemed overly excited by something Riku didn't know. At least yet. "Listen, Riku."

Riku was already starting to fill his tummy, his mouth filled with a spoonful of steaming meal. He hummed to let Axel know that he was listening.

"I met this hot boy at the café today," he started, he sounded happy judging by the big smile he had had until that moment. "And you know what? He's _your brunet_'s best friend!"

Riku choked on Axel's words and then painstakingly gulped down a cup of water. "You met his friend? The blonde one?" Axel made a sharp nod.

"Yeah, a hundred percent sure it was him. Anyway, how was your first day teaching?"

"I still can't believe that I finally met Sora in person." Riku smiled, reminiscent of the first time he saw his crush at the biology class earlier.

"Pedophile Riku, ew." The redhead made a dramatic gagging motion and then stopped and laughed when an elbow landed on his ribs quite harshly.

"Shut up, freak. You said that his friend is hot, which means you're a pedophile _as well_!" Riku's blue green orbs were squinted at the green acid eyes, making an I'm-not-amused stare.

"But I told him right away that he is hot and I even asked his number—"

"Which still means you're a pedophille," Riku added.

"—which means that I'm not like _you _who secretly have a crush on your boss' son, which makes me an _honest_ pedophile."

"At least _I _have had my first kiss with someone, unlike you, kiss-virgin."

Axel was speechless: Riku was true. Chuckling, the silver haired man left Axel alone, pouting and grumbling under his breath.

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><p>It had been 2 weeks since Riku had started to teach. He had gotten used with the new job and, luckily enough, he was a natural with it. It seemed like he was one of the students' favorite. And also of the teachers'. With his gorgeous appearance and playful manner, Riku was easily indirectly chosen as one of the popular teachers at the school he was working at, Twilight High.<p>

Taking advantage of Riku's connection with Cloud (which connected him to the brunet, which in turn connected him to the brunet's friend), Axel had managed to sabotage the teenagers and become chemistry tutor for them. The day had come and Axel had found Sora and Roxas in front of his apartment door. Riku had gone straight to the bookstore after teaching, so he would have been home only much later.

Anyway, both Roxas and Sora came into his apartment and then Axel left them to take some stuff. Suddenly, the brunet said that he had something to do and, in the end, he left Roxas alone with Axel. Not long after a little introduction, the blonde admitted that he was actually interested in Axel as well. With the confession, they made love on the couch and since then they started dating, and Axel won his bet.

Or at least it was what Axel hoped to happen. Unfortunately, everything turned out on the contrary. The blonde wasn't friendly and nice at all towards Axel: he didn't speak at all at their class, kept glaring at him with a deadly stare, no smile was even once put on his lips even when he tried to make some jokes. Nothing better happened until their course finished, even until the teenagers left his apartment.

"Roxas," Axel smiled. At least he got to know the blondie's name—despite not getting his number—and that was more than enough for now.

* * *

><p>'<em>That friggin' chimo!'<em> Roxas thought, throwing his squeaky-clean and full-with-food self onto his bed. _'That retard clearly wants to get into my pants.'_ Of course Axel was someone he couldn't forget easily—it was the first time for Roxas to have someone hitting on him as obviously as the redhead waiter/chemistry tutor had done. But then, he thought, Axel wasn't _that_ bad. With his lean frame, handsome face, crimson spiky hair, green acid eyes and two teardrop tattoos right under his eyes, Axel was quite intriguing. Maybe if he tried to open his heart to Axel—

"Roxas!" Demyx screamed the air out of his lungs, half sobbing and half angry.

"What the heck, Dem?" He was instantly cut from his thoughts, leaving him utterly shocked. Roxas raised his eyebrow, asking his brother to go on with a gesture.

"It's Zexy," the sandy blonde huffed, long faced. Roxas had gotten used with that kind of things: his brother ranting about Zexion ("my Zexy"). It was weird, but Demyx could be possessive, even to Zexion, who was no more than a _best friend_. Demyx wasn't even dating him and heck, he was (supposed to be) as straight as a post. But in the end, it was always the weird old Demyx, and Roxas could do nothing about it but listen at the blathering blatherskite.

"You know, Rox, he keeps going to Sora's bookstore. And I think I know _why_!"

"Why is that?" Roxas tried to show a little bit of interest but failed miserably. Demyx couldn't care less about his half-hearted response, though.

"He's seeing the clerk! And do you know what's worse than that?"

"What is that?" Again, Roxas tried. Again, he failed.

"The clerk is Mr. Volk!" Demyx threw his hands in the air, both frustrated and shocked by his own shouting.

"Seriously?" Roxas' voice raised, his full attention taken by what his brother had said_. '__Does__ Sora know about this yet?_' Well, it was his father's bookstore, after all, so he must've known about it... right?

"Boys! Can you keep the voice down?" A woman's voice was heard from downstairs, obviously their mom's. They didn't respond, but they agreed to lower their voice even without telling it to each other.

"Wait, wait, haven't you been telling me about Zexion has been going to the bookstore since long time ago? And _now_ you just discovered that Mr. Volk is working there?" Lowering his voice, the younger blonde was undoubtedly sure that Demyx had been talking about how Zexion loved the bookstore since a few months ago and usually preferred to go there rather than spending his time with Demyx, which made the sandy blonde rants a lot.

Demyx looked down, biting his lips. "Yeah. I'd never taken a good look into the bookstore until now, but yesterday I did, and I saw that man! Also, do you notice how Zexion looks so concerned every time Sora talks about Mr. Volk?"

"Uh, Dem, even so, why should you be complaining about it? Why do you care if Zexion is actually seeing him? It has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, sure."

"Dem?"

"I'm fine," he sneered.

* * *

><p>A few day later, it was the first time Roxas decided to go to the café again, after meeting Axel as his new tutor, partly expecting to see the man, partly not wanting to meet him. Roxas was already sitting on the same seat as last time. Axel was there, basically relaxing without doing anything at all. Then Roxas raised his hand, trying to get one of the waiters' attentions or, to be exact, Axel's. Of course he was kind of expecting that Axel would've been the one to get there, but he didn't. Axel was still on his place, somehow staring at the blonde curiously. Roxas was confused—he thought that Axel was interested in him. At least that was what his gaydar had told him, and he was sure that his gaydar was working perfectly. Axel was <em>supposed<em> to come to him if he was actually attracted to him, right? Or maybe he wasn't? With a scowl, Roxas ordered his favorite beverage from a pink haired waiter who eventually came to him when Axel seemed not to have any intention to serve Roxas. By the time he finished his order, he glanced back at the place where Axel was, but the red haired waiter had already gone.

After that, his feelings towards Axel started growing stronger. That day, he was bringing his chemistry book along, a quite heavy one, no less, so that if Axel went up to him, he could've asked him some questions and, if he didn't, he had nothing to lose. Once more, he was on his seat and his hand was raised. Just like before, Axel was staring at him, but he didn't budge even an inch. Another waiter took the blonde's order, and the teenager waited patiently disappointed.

"Do you know who that hottie is over there, Ax?" Marluxia, the other waiter, whispered to Axel who was still standing on his place, near the counter, leaning against it. On the other side, Luxord was smirking at him, glancing with a content look on his face, really sure that the redhead would lose his bet.

"Shush, Marly. I'm going to get him, but he's playing hard to get." Axel smirked, entertaining himself with the view of the annoyed "hottie", who sometimes glanced at him timidly. He snorted at Luxord, who seemed amused at Axel's effort on getting the blonde's heart. Axel turned his face back to Marluxia: "Don't you dare to lay a finger on him."

"Make a move, or _I_ will." Seeing Axel not responding, after a few seconds Marluxia scooted over to Roxas, or at he tried to, because Axel stopped him. The redhead was not amused with what the pink haired man was trying to do thus he decided to make a move as Marluxia said.

Rushing, Axel reached the blonde's table whose face lit up a shade with his presence even though Roxas seemed to want to keep his scowl.

"Where's your classmate? The brunet one." Axel stood in front of Roxas' desk, staring at the blonde curiously.

Roxas mused for a second. "He had an extra class with our biology teacher." _'That would be Riku. Heh,' _Axel chuckled inwardly. "But... how did you know that Sora and I are in the same class?"

Damnit. It was definitely because Riku had told him of course, but Riku had made him promise not to tell anything about him to either Sora or Roxas.

"Uh, just a lucky guess. Anyway, what's your order?" The green eyed man tried to change the topic, hoping that Roxas would just forget the slip of the tongue.

"I already ordered, chimo." It seemed that Axel's nicknames which were used to be "retarded" or "moron" or "retarded moron" had changed into "chimo" after their first course.

"Ah, I see." Axel huffed dramatically and put his hand on his chest as if being hurt badly by the blonde's words. "I'll just go away, then—"

"Wait, no, don't!" Roxas grabbed the redhead's wrist quickly, not wanting him to leave him alone after waiting so long that Axel would approach him. "Uh," he blushed, releasing the man's wrist slowly, "I-I need to solve this chemistry homework. I think you can help me a little bit."

"Sure, I can help," Smiling sweetly, Axel's eyes were sparkling amusedly. Roxas made a smile in return, a little one, relieved that the man would help him with his homework and, moreover, his efforts to keep the man with him had succeeded. "But, on one condition." The redhead smirked and inched his face closer until his lips were almost touching Roxas' ear. The blonde was shivering by the sudden gesture, his cheeks were growing hot. Whispering softly, Axel said, "Give me your virginity."

Roxas' smile fell, his face turned into a mild shock, flushed with an opaque red color. "_Are you fuckin' kidding me?_"

"Yes, totally joking!" Axel ruffled the golden hair of Roxas and laughed. From afar, Marluxia slapped his face with his palm at his co-worker's demeanor even though he had known what kind of person Axel was. "Just give me your number, blondie."

* * *

><p>3 months had passed quickly. After what happened that day, Axel and Roxas had started a new routine: calling each other at night. A <em>little<em> part would be talking about chemistry, but _mostly_ would be Axel hitting the blonde. More to Axel's delight, sometimes Roxas would come to the café on Thursday, when Sora had his extra class so that the brunet wouldn't find out about their private meeting. Roxas didn't want to keep this as a secret, but it was too embarrassing to admit it, even to his own best friend. But he didn't do that often, only occasionally, so that wasn't really important. Other than that, most of their conversations were on the phone.

"_For real? You've never kissed someone?"_

Scratching his head sheepishly, Axel answered, "For real. I only want to kiss my true love, okay? It should be special and such." That was one of the embarrassing (public) secret which Axel had. Every single friend that he had knew about that matter and, quite oftenly, he got teased with that fact. Tell Axel that he was exaggerating "first kiss", but he wouldn't change his mind.

Roxas bursted into a laughter and the redhead face-palmed himself. _"You're saying that just because you don't have a girlfriend."_

"I've had some girlfriends, blondie, and boyfriends too. But I've never kissed any of them, not even once," Axel said smugly. Or embarrassedly."They're dying for my kiss," he added uncertainly, but not wanting Roxas to get the wrong idea.

"_Stop joking around, smartass. It means you have zero experience in kissing." _

He sighed. "If you want to put it in that way, then yes." Despite Axel's prideful personality and few girlfriends or boyfriends that he had had, he was actually really scared with sexual matter—a prude—including a little harmless kiss on the lips.

Roxas laughed again until his stomach hurt from the lack of air. He decided to change the topic. _"__Anyway__, my brother has been acting weird lately."_

"Demyx, right? Why is that, sweetie?"Axel let the nickname slip from his tongue easily, wanting to pull his leg purposely after being laughed at by the blonde. For the last 3 months, he had felt a new feeling growing inside him. Axel couldn't help himself not to tease Roxas as he had turned into a crush. He couldn't deny it when his heart was swelling happily at the interactions with the teen.

"_Stop calling me with pet names, you retarded chimo. __But__, I think it's because __of __his friend, Zexion. He's overly concerned about the guy and they're not even dating. It bothers me a lot because he constantly rants about that matter..."_

"But I remember that you said your brother is straight, right?" Axel was on the couch, slouching with his legs thrown over the table.

"_Exactly!" _Before the blonde could continue, Axel's apartment door opened with a slam, revealing the biology teacher. His face was no other than depressed. Even the word "depressed" didn't fit Riku's glooming aura, which surpassed the word's definition.

"Uh, Roxy, I'll call you later. My roomie needs me." Of course Roxas was his crush and talking to him was something he was looking forward to, but seeing his best friend in such a bad condition, he had no doubts about what to do. Friends before Roxas could wait.

"_Sure. Demyx's home, anyway, and he'd rant about—" "Rox, you won't believe it!" "—uh here it comes. I'll call you later." _Demyx's voice could be heard on the background, screaming the blonde's name. Just like Roxas had said, his brother must have wanted to rant about the Zexion guy, just like usual. At the end Roxas hung the phone, letting Axel to take a look at his I'm-just-home-and-depressed friend.

"What's going on, Riku? You look awful." Axel sat properly, leaving some space next to him. He patted the couch's seat, gesturing Riku to sit next to him and spill the beans.

"Zexion kissed me and Sora saw it." Riku sat down next to the redhead, his head laying back with palms covering his face. He then let out a long deep sigh, his lips curled down.

"_Who_ did _what_?"

"Zexion _kissed_ me. You don't know him, anyway. He is our regular customer. Today he came and confessed that he has a crush on me and it has been like that for a while. And then he suddenly kissed me!" Riku jerked his body up, sitting with his elbows on his knees, "And that was when I noticed that Sora was looking. Isn't that a bad coincidence? Talk about tough luck. He has never come to the bookstore, and when he came, he saw that." The silver haired teacher pinched the bridge of his nose warily.

'_Zexion... Roxas __dropped that name before__. Yeah, __another __coincidence.' _Axel patted his friend's back carefully, intending to cheer the man up. "Just clear it up, man. Talk to the brunet, it's not that hard."

"I know, but the look on his face when he saw that..." Riku grunted, as if taking physical pain to his bones.

"You gotta explain it. Period."

Riku shot him a resigned look. The redhead was right—there was nothing else he could do but to explain it to Sora. He didn't want all his efforts just burned away with a single mistake.

"You're right, Ax. I'll do it tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"<em>Move your ass back here, you ungrateful son!"<em> A hoarse voice yelled, demanding the "son" harshly.

"But that's not how you do it. You can't just make me _resign myself_, father." Riku argued tiredly, on the verge of yelling as well. But he was still trying to be calm regardless his father's compassion-less tone.

"_Just go back here, I've sent you the ticket. It should arrive soon. Do it or I'll make you 'do' other things you wouldn't want to do!"_ The old man hung up, leaving his son resentfully scowling on the other end.

"What am I supposed to do, Axel?" He spoke to the man who had been watching the fit between him and his father for 10 minutes. Riku was in a turmoil with the ineluctable turn of events. He hadn't even had a chance to talk to Sora and now he had to go home?

Axel couldn't answer the question—he wasn't sure himself what he would've done if he was in Riku's boots. He was still attempting to answer to the silver haired teacher when someone knocked their apartment door with no grace. The redhead decided to get there while Riku was sitting on the couch, musing at his goddamn convoluted position.

Opening the door, Axel couldn't be more surprised to see Sora in front of him. Well, the teenager was supposed to be at school at a time like that and he clearly had no debts to the brunet. So what Sora could want to do here?

"What a surprise, kiddo. What has brought you here at this time?" Axel tried to sound happy with his voice, hiding his surprised side.

"I need to talk to Riku."

"This is my apartment. Um... you might've mistaken it." Sora was supposed to be clueless about Riku living there. How did he find out? Axel was getting anxious, not sure with what to do.

"No need to cover it, Axel. I know you live with him."

The redhead was completely speechless thus he decided to get back inside. Riku, who was still all messy and stressed was now staring at him with his eyes full of curiosity.

"It's Sora, he wants to talk with you."

"Sora?" The curious teal orbs were now widening in shock, filled with fears. He huffed a big breath, trying to calm his nerves down. The silver haired man knew that had to face it, to explain it to Sora sooner or later, but he hadn't expected it to be right then, when he was in his worst condition. Suddenly, a new message showed up on his phone.

_From: Cloud_

_Sora is on his way to your apartment. He already knew about you working at my place. Sorry about that, Riku. I hope my son won't be a bother._

Riku gulped his swelling worries and said, "let him in."

Unsure, Axel stared at the roommate. Riku stared back contently and nodded. Axel sighed and walked back to the door and let the brunet in. He then excused himself and left them alone, praying that everything would be fine for Riku.

* * *

><p>"<em>Roxy babe?" <em>Roxas just answered the phone and Axel's voice was heard instantly.

"Don't call me like that," he sighed but at the same time his heart was thumping excitedly. He was blushing every time Axel called him with cute pet names, ulteriorly embarrassed with the ulterior feelings that he had. "What is it? You usually call me much later."

"_Well, after what happened today, Riku couldn't stop talking about how happy he is. He talks about Sora all the time! Anyway, I need an escape, so will you kindly bring me at the café?" _Just like Axel said, Riku hadn't had any intention to stop talking about Sora. Riku was completely insane, Axel thought, but at least he was happy. The redhead was tired with Riku's excitement, though, so despite feeling guilty, he had made the decision to get away from the overjoyed man, and in the same time to have a date with his crush.

"Alright. I need you to explain some chem stuff too, anyway." The blonde teenager was happy that Axel was asking him to go for a date—or at least some sort of it if he couldn't call it as "date".

"_Okay, it's settled. I'll be waiting for you."_

After a couple of minutes, Roxas happily arrived at the café, which was much more crowded and busy at evening. He passed through the door and looked for the red haired man who was now supposed to be a customer instead of a waiter. Without taking too long, he easily identified the peculiar red hair of Axel's just few tables away from his place. Walking closer, he noticed that his crush was talking to a pink haired waiter that had served him before. They were busy chatting, not realizing that Roxas was standing close enough to hear what they were talking about.

"He's cute, so why not?" The redhead's eyes was sparking with joy, contently talking about the topic and chuckling lightly. He looked nice and relaxed inside his white shirt, with the few first buttons untucked, and a black tight jeans which made his slender legs appear longer.

"Yeah he is. His blonde hair is just beautiful and his blue eyes—"

"Stop talking like that about him or I'll punch you." Joking, Axel punched Marluxia effortlessly on his stomach and then the pink haired waiter laughed.

'_Are they talking about me?' _Roxas was quite sure that the men were talking about him: that description matched his profile without any doubts.

"Anyway, Luxord told me that it was only a bet." The pink haired waiter folded his arms in front of his chest, his tone changed from the amused one into a curious-concerned one. He raised a pink thick eyebrow. "Sounds like you won the bet, huh?"

"_Bet_?" Roxas finally spoke, fully shocked with what he just heard. Both men turned their faces to the blonde, their expression bemused. Axel tried to make some words but the blonde had already made his way back out of the café.

"Roxas!" Axel's voice was clearly fishing some people's attention towards them accidentally.

Roxas couldn't care anymore. What Axel had done until that point was only for a bet. It hurt like hell, right in the middle of his chest. His eyes were wet with pooling tears. If he could, he would have just disappeared into a hole that instant, swallowed into the earth. He didn't want to see his red haired crush anymore.

Roxas was trembling on his jelly-like legs, trying hard enough to move them faster so Axel wouldn't catch him up. Unfortunately, the redhaired man's legs were much longer than his, therefore, just before he could escape the café door, he was pulled back by Axel, right into his arms. His face was burried inside the man's chest, but Roxas jerked his head back so he wouldn't touch him. The blonde struggled hatefully at touch, but Axel refused to let him go.

"Lemme go, Axel!" He swung his legs, trying to kick Axel, but his effort was a fiasco. His arms were locked inside Axel's, which made him try to do something that he could do without using any limbs: bite. Without waiting one more second, the blonde looked for a vulnerable spot behind Axel's unbuttoned shirt and bit him hard near the man's collar bone. Few guests on the café gasped when they saw it.

"OUCH ROXAS—ngh, STOP IT!" Axel hissed in pain, but still refusing to let Roxas go. His grip was even harder whilst the blonde increased the force of the bite despite his jaw was now starting to hurt as well. But it was nothing compared to the pain in Roxas' heart, so with that, he justified what he was doing at the moment. The older man's salty skin started to bleed and Roxas could feel the iron taste on the tip his tongue. Axel hands were still looped around the blonde's thin frame. Roxas couldn't bite him harder, so he left the bleeding skin alone, trying to talk with the man.

"Why in the world would you bet for me? Are you really_ that_ retarded?" Roxas demanded an answer, his voice was higher in anger. The pooling tears were now escaping Roxas' eyes, making his cheeks glistening under the artificial light. He hiccuped under his breath, angryly crying, not caring if some more people had started to look at them.

"It was 50 bucks, Roxas, but—"

"You are _that_ retarded." He had already stopped his attempt to escape because of how useless it was. Roxas glared at the man and said, "D'ya think my feelings are only worth 50 dollars?"

"I'm sorry!" Axel gushed out, his expression was full of guilt. "Yes, at first it was all bet, Roxas." The blonde inside his arms shot him a dirty look and Axel sighed when he saw it. "_At first _it was nothing more than a bet, only for fun."

"Then what? It turned out you actually want to get into my pants, jerk?" Roxas spat the words from his bitter mouth with a sneer. The whole café was silent, no one daring to speak.

"It's not like that!" Seeing that Roxas wasn't trying to escape from him any further and was actually talking, Axel released his lasting grip. "It turned out that I actually _love_ you, Roxas." He admitted it slowly, his voice softening after all the yelling between them.

"You're lying!" Roxas growled back although half of his emotions had turned from anger into confusion. "Prove it."

Axel clasped his hands on Roxas' shoulders, his palms fitting perfectly on the teen's bony shoulder. With just a little moment of hesitation, his lips made its way onto his crush's lips, landing on them softly. It was Axel's first kiss. Roxas knew the man was clueless—he was nervously fidgeting and his hands were trembling—so Roxas decided to take the lead. The blonde moved his lips slightly, making some movement against the man's own, leading Axel into a better kiss. Axel instinctively moved his lips, carefully following his crush's lead. It wasn't really long, not even a minute, but it could tell all of Axel's feelings towards the blonde. Suddenly the thick silence was broken by a single clap from Luxord's hands which then followed by more claps by most of the customers on the café. Some of them "aww"ed at the romantic scene, some were just too shocked to react and some were disgusted with the PDA.

Roxas' cheeks were reddening with a heavy red blush. He was embarrassed that he had diverted everyone's attention to them after throwing a tantrum in public, but Axel seemed content enough. Then people's attention quickly shifted back to what they were doing and chatters started to fill the silent café once more. Everything had turned back into normal.

"That was my 21-years-old kiss, Roxy." Whispering, he made a sad smile. Roxas quickly looked up, right into Axel's green eyes. "I don't know if it has proven my love, but that was the only thing I could do."

Roxas didn't answer, but he smiled at the man who then returned it with multiplied happiness on his face. The blonde pulled Axel into his hug which was welcomed tightly. Roxas then turned his face so he could see the bite mark on Axel's skin. The blood had dried, he traced the wound with his finger carefully. Axel winced a bit in pain. He was sure it would have left a scar even after being cleaned and treated.

"You didn't let me go when I bit you."

"I didn't want to let you go."

"But you got hurt."

"It's love, Roxy... It wouldn't be love if you'd walk away si easily when you get hurt."

"I'm sorry, Axel. "

"It's okay." Axel caressed Roxas' hair, repeating the movement to make sure that everything was and would've been okay. "It will be another proof that I love you, Roxy."

They went silent for a moment, enjoying the warmth of each other despite being mocked from some homophobics at the café. After another few seconds, Roxas directed his eyes to Axel's own once more. Axel shot a confused look at the blonde who was now giggling.

"It wasn't a bad kiss for your first one, by the way." Roxas lifted his eyebrows, making a mischievous look.

They both went into a noisy laughter just before Axel's second kiss in his life. And Axel was sure that in his life he wouldn't have ever wanted kisses other than from someone else than Roxas.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry it took me really long to update! But I hope you like this extra chapter. There will be another one, and I hope it won't take too long to write :( (the next one will be focused on Demyx/Zexion!). Ah yes, this is longer than usual because I have to fit (almost) all of the details of 7 chapters. And hey, as always, thank you for the awesome **SoRikuRox **for beta-reading this :). Okay, leave a review and let me know if you liked it! –Anwy


	9. Extra Chapter 2

**Extra Chapter II – My Insensitive Posses****s****ive Classmate**

* * *

><p>He was surrounded by cold water waving back and forth, clashing onto his skin. The cooling sensation was quite soothing and calming, making feel his mind at ease. At least until a splash of water crashed on his face rudely.<p>

"C'mon, Zexy! It's not swimming if you just stand there doing nothin'!" A sandy blonde cheerfully splashed the man, apparently annoyed by the act.

With a light scowl, Zexion sighed: there was him, in the almost-ending summer vacation, together inside the pool at Zexion's house with his friend, Demyx, who must have probably been merman in another life as his attraction towards water was unexpectedly high.

"I have no energy to swim as much as you do, Dem," he retorted.

Demyx puffed his cheeks. "That is certainly because you didn't finish your lunch." The sandy blonde teenager swam, reducing the gap between them until they were close enough to touch each other's skin. "Maybe you need some sort of _punishment_?" Whispering softly, the words sent shivers through Zexion's spine.

Of course, he thought that Demyx was the _most_ annoying person in this world. He could only wonder why he had ended stuck with him for all this time. Opposite attraction, perhaps?

Zexion wasn't paying much attention to his friend, who mostly spent his time goofing around in his pool or maybe distracting him from his books. But what could a gay guy do when a _hot _male friend who always smiles at him despite his gloomy mood or maybe pushed him around just to make him "get a life" whispered in a sexual manner? He knew that Demyx was doing it just to pull his leg—he always had—but sometimes there was a tingling feeling inside his little heart asking to fall for the boy. Again, he sighed, purging the thoughts (or maybe feelings?) he had had for a while. No way, he wouldn't fall for Demyx.

After all, there was already someone else who had taken quite a space inside his heart. It was the bookstore's clerk. The clerk was absolutely gorgeous and very nice, too. Not to mention that, from the way he talked and the way his eyes sparked, Zexion could tell that he was a cool, educated, sophisticated man. Also, who would have guessed that the man was planning to teach in their school? It must've been fate.

"Zexy, why are you smiling like that? That is certainly not because of me," Demyx inclined his head in confusion and curiosity.

"It's nothing," he waved his hand and added, "Can we stop on the bookstore later?"

* * *

><p>"See ya, Zexy! Dunno why you are so attracted to this bookstore, but here ya go."<p>

"Yeah, thanks for the ride, Dem."

After their goodbyes, Zexion proceeded to walk into his favorite bookstore, "The Advent". It had become a habit to him to just hang around there, chatting with his crush/clerk while buying books, at least for the past few months. Much to his delight, the place was cozy, and the calming surrounding was absolutely his favorite. Confidently, he opened the door and stepped onto the wooden floor.

Already expecting it, Zexion heard a brief greeting from the clerk standing behind the counter. "Evening, Zexion."

He turned his head and smiled. "Riku," his smile was widened. "How's today?"

"Not bad," the clerk laughed, scratching his silver hair. "We've got some new customers lately."

'_Heh, might be because of you,' _Zexion chuckled in his mind. "That's great for you," he swept his bang to the side and walked closer to the counter, nearing Riku. "So, are you ready for teaching soon, _Mr. Volk_?"

"Now it sounds funny when you call me that way." Riku's face fell a bit but then lightened up on the next second. "But I am ready. I have never been this excited in my life."

"Well, you have to get used with 'Mr. Volk', then. Besides, what's so exciting with teaching?" The steel blue haired man raised a brow.

A tinge of reddish tint rose on Riku's pale cheeks. "Nothing, it just seems pretty fun to do. Anyway, how about you and your crush, all nice and fun?"

Zexion's crush. Obviously, it was the man who stood right in front of him, the clerk and the soon-to-be teacher, no other than Riku Volk.

"We're just fine, he is still nice as ever." Zexion shrugged. After knowing that Riku was gay as well, he had no trouble referring his crush's gender as a hint to Riku of him being gay. At least he had some hope to hold on that they had a same sexual preference. He stared into Riku's blue green eyes and said, "He's always nice, but that's all," he blinked, "That's all."

* * *

><p>Finally, the inevitable day came, the beginning of the school. Under the overcast weather which had a comforting atmosphere, Zexion found himself being dragged around by Demyx. Not a lot happened that day except for him having some new acquaintances introduced by his sandy blonde haired friend. One of them was Roxas, the brother who Demyx had always talked about (but he never had actually met) and the other one was Sora, a weird brown haired boy who seemed to match Demyx's personality well.<p>

Anyway, the brunet wasn't taking his interest too much, at least until he mentioned a name he was familar with: Riku Volk. A few days after their first day of school, the four of them, Zexion, Demyx, Roxas and Sora were hanging around on the top of clock tower, enjoying their sea salt ice creams. Zexion's mind was somewhere between his ice cream until the topic drifted to Mr. Volk.

"Yeah, I kinda passed out. But you know what?" The peculiar brunet was bearing a grin as huge as ever.

"Mr. Volk carried him to the infirmary. Bridal style." Demyx's brother deadpanned. As the words "Mr. Volk" escaped his mouth, Zexion snapped from his thoughts and quickly directed his eyes on both Roxas and Sora.

"Whoa, wait, the new teacher?" Demyx was surprised, but not even half as much as Zexion. His attention focused on Sora, the brunet who happened to have interactions with his crush. _'Riku did that?'_

"Yup! And I think he kind of caressed me when I was out." Zexion's body tensed up—(_'what is going on?')_—but no one realized it since the brunet had taken all of their attentions.

"How did you know that? You fainted. And you didn't say anything about caressing before!" Roxas' voice was full of doubts, but Zexion bet his voice would've been filled with much more disbeliefs if he would have been the one to speak.

"Uhm, I whas khind of... Ya khnow, haff ahwake." The brunet replied with mouth full of ice cream.

"Hah. He looked like a womanizer, though. With that pretty face of his, he could make any girls swoon!" Demyx snorted. The blue steel haired man would've punched his friend if they were not, in fact, on the top of the clock tower. No one should talk bad about Riku, Zexion thought.

"And boys too." Sora sounded so happy that Zexion took a clue that he was having a crush on Riku—on _his _crush. He certainly should know more about this Sora guy.

* * *

><p>It had been two weeks since the last time Zexion had visited the bookstore due to the exam weeks. He had been really busy studying that he hadn't had a chance to see his crush. But now, he could make it.<p>

"How teaching has been? As exciting as you thought?" Smiling, Zexion greeted his crush who seemed to be musing about something. He had just come home from school and had decided to quickly visit the bookstore only to find his crush zoning out. He had missed Riku: he hadn't seen the man a lot more than a few times running into him at school.

"Hey, didn't notice you're here, Zex." Caught by surprise, the teacher looked at the blue orbs which were observing him cautiously. "And yes, it's really exciting," he chuckled, flashing his pearl-white smile to Zexion, who was enjoying the view of his crush.

'_Should I ask about Sora?'_ Zexion was wondering. Of course he was as curious as ever, but he couldn't just ask the teacher about that: he wouldn't deign himself—his pride—to do so. Plus, there weren't any exact questions to ask.

Noticing that Zexion was having something in his mind, Riku asked. "What is it, something about your crush?" Zexion thought that Riku didn't really wanted to know what was on his mind, but mostly to make sure that he was okay.

He thought for another second and finally shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking."

"You think too much, Zexion." Riku smiled and leaned his body on the counter, relaxing his body. Despite the age differences, Riku found Zexion a good companion to chat—he was mature, and talking to him was no different than talking to his peers. They could talk even about politics, which didn't take much interest of most teenagers around his age.

A honk was heard from outside which made Zexion glancing out of the glass window. Not far away, he saw Demyx's car, waiting. The blonde haired friend had sent him a message that he would pick Zexion up at the bookstore. Although they weren't talking a lot, Zexion was fascinated that at least he got to see Riku after quite a while. He marched towards the door after waving good bye to Riku and quickly walked to the baby blue painted car. Taking the front seat, he found Demyx smiling at him.

"Zexy, I missed you so much!" Demyx stepped on the gas pedal softly as he diverted his eyes to the road.

"We saw each other at school not even 3 hours ago." Zexion replied with an are-you-serious face. The blonde haired man only laughed and then they went to pick up Sora and Roxas after their first chemistry course.

The only interesting thing Zexion found out later that day was that the bookstore belonged to Sora's father. Which meant that Riku was working for the brunet's parent. How interesting.

* * *

><p>Zexion, Demyx, Roxas and Sora were sitting at the cafeteria. It was a lunch break, when the four of them met to eat their lunch together as usual. That day, Zexion noted, the brunet was acting strangely. He was overly excited, all smiling and bouncing—something had to be up. Sometimes Zexion would steal glances to the boy, but not wanting to start a conversation. It seemed that Demyx had picked up the unusual aura from Sora as well.<p>

"You've been smiling all day, Sora. You'd rip your mouth apart pretty soon. What happened?" Glad that Zexion hadn't had to ask it himself, even though he was curious to death.

"This doofus is having an extra class with _his _Mr. Volk." Instead of Sora, Roxas answered the question for him.

Zexion was shaken by what Roxas had said.

"Extra class with Mr. Volk?" Pressing his shocked tone down so that it wouldn't have made any suspicion, a strained voice finally made it out from the blue steel haired teen. The rest of the boys were surprised by Zexion's sudden remark, clearly not expecting Zexion to talk.

"Yep." The brunet nonchalantly answered as if it was the most normal thing in this world, though he had been acting as if it was the most magical thing ever.

Eyes twitching, he tried to sound as calm as he could. "I see. He's kind enough for that, isn't he?" His heart was pounding hard and his mind was filled with questions—'_whywhathowwhenwhoRIKU?'_ Jealousy starting to fill his heart.

"Now, now, Sora. You really like _that_ guy? You can't be serious. Not to be an asshole, but he's a _teacher._ Like, _male teacher_." Demyx's comment obviously had sparked a little of Zexion's anger. He knew that Demyx was straight, but he shouldn't have been a jerk for being one.

"Demyx, what's wrong with _you_ and _gay love_?" Calmly, Zexion retorted, mostly offended about the "that guy" and "male teacher" because he had the exact same feelings as Sora, even stronger.

"Wait, sorry Zexy. I didn't mean to offend you or Roxas, but as a straight male, I just want to tell Sora that there are plenty of boobs to be seen before choosing a dick instead."

Zexion rolled his eyes: Demyx would always be Demyx.

* * *

><p>Demyx was sitting on his bed while his brother was doing his homework, typing stuff on his laptop. With the quiet <em>tic tic <em>sound from Roxas' keyboard, he mused with what he had been thinking about lately: Zexion.

A few days ago, he had just discovered that Zexion was highly interested in Sora's bookstore because of the clerk—Riku. He was really sure that it was all about Riku when everything connetcted perfectly: how Zexion went to the bookstore all of the time, how he seemed to be interested every time Sora talked about Riku and how Zexion got offended just later that noon when he mentioned the man. The thought had been bothering him for days, when he decided to actually think about it thoroughly. He had also talked about this matter to Roxas, the brother he had directed all his worries at and, bluntly, Roxas had told him that it wasn't his concern; Zexion could see anyone he wanted.

Although he understood well that Roxas got a point, it still felt _so _wrong. But _why _was it _wrong_? No, he couldn't have had any feelings towards Zexion, he was straight and was still interested in girls, right? Now the blonde doubted his sexual preference. He sighed and laid his back on the bed. Absentmindedly, he took his phone and started to write a message to one of the girl from his class.

'_Maybe this would keep him away from Mr. Volk__,__' _he thought.

* * *

><p>"Is that true, Dem?" A girl with brown hair asked him, full with excitements on her voice. "Is it true that Mr. Volk is having a relationship with a senior here? A <em>male <em>senior?"

"Yeah, I guess," Demyx shrugged, not comfortable with what he was saying. With what he had done the previous day, the rumors had spread faster than he thought. Of course it was because of Riku's popularity.

Ever since Demyx stepped his feet on the class room that morning, everyone—_everyone_—had been talking about Riku. About the rumor _Demyx_ had started yesterday. Feeling a little guilty, he wasn't worried by the rumor but mostly to what Zexion's reaction would have been.

Zexion was already on his way towards the class room. Whilst walking on the hallway, he could hear students clearly talking about Riku—("Ew, can you believe that? Mr. Volk is gay!" or "He has a relationship with one of the student! Gross!")—to the point that he was wondering about what had happened. Finally he reached the class room and the quiet man took a seat near Demyx and stared.

The blonde knew that Zexion somehow knew about what he had done. His stare—it was demanding an answer. He was a coward; he couldn't and wouldn't make a word. His mouth was shut tightly by an invisible zipper.

"Do _you _know something about the rumor, Dem?" Half whispering, Zexion started, slowly raising some suspicion from the man in front of him. His voice wasn't accusing, but it had some edge in it. His eyes squinted, brows knitted together. Demyx knew how scary Zexion could be when he was actually pissed, and what was happening right then was leading to thats.

Demyx looked away, not wanting Zexion to find out. But Lady Luck wasn't on his side that time.

"Demyx! Is that true? The rumor, I mean. Someone said you know better about that matter." Another girl from his class had approached them and, before Demyx could stop her from asking, the question slipped out from her tongue. Zexion was still there and his expression had changed, he was flat faced. No emotion actually showed up on his face. His suspicion was proven to be right: he was sure that Demyx must've seen them at the bookstore together and started a rumor about it. But why?

After forcing the girl to leave them alone, Zexion talked again, sure of his conclusion. "Why did you do that?" His voice was as calm as ever, not even a trace of anger (or maybe disappointment) found in his voice, but it only meant that he was way more beyond angry.

The asked man tried as hard as he could to actually say a thing. "I'm sorry, Zexy." He gulped a big lump on his throat. "I... I just don't like him being with you."

Zexion appreciated his friend's courage of confessing, but he was still annoyed with what Demyx had done. A _wrong _rumor—though not fully wrong—about his crush being spread wasn't his favorite event, obviously.

"But," Demyx inquired, "Why would you like a guy like him?" Zexion hadn't exactly told him that he liked Riku, but Demyx had caught all the signs and they could only led to one conclusion: Zexion had a crush on Riku. "He's really weird, c'mon, Zex. I mean, there are better men than him!"

"Dem, I like Riku, and I've been having a crush on him for a few months." His tone was dark, which made Demyx literally sweating. "I know who I like, and I can choose whoever I want; I don't need your opinion."

Demyx and Zexion just sat quietly, passing all the lessons in dead silence. That time, the high tension between them was unbearable. Demyx didn't dare to make any attempts to talk to the man next to him. The blonde haired man just stared sadly at Zexion, who wasn't paying any attention to him.

* * *

><p><em>3 months later.<em>

_From: Zexion_

_Okay._

It was the last thing Zexion had said to him through text, and it was no more or less than 3 months ago. And it was only about the homework they were assigned for.

Until that point, Demyx had been trying hard to be talkative to Zexion and the teen would have always spoke as if nothing was wrong. But, Demyx knew exactly that the boy was beyond angry. He was pissed off, fed up, tired. Zexion wasn't directly ignoring him, as he always responded every time Demyx talked, but Demyx could feel the distance growing between them: Zexion was closing himself towards him.

Roxas realized the change of mood surrounding his brother, who was currently looking at his phone longingly, but he hadn't thought it was much worse than that. Mostly because they still gathered for lunch together, and Zexion and Demyx seemed to be pretty okay despite the cold eyed senior not talking as much as he used to.

But, the truth was Demyx couldn't do anything else than being depressed.

* * *

><p>3 months straight, Zexion had no intention to go to the bookstore. He had ignored everyone including his parents—who weren't all that curious with the teen's problem, anyway— and including Demyx, the only close friend he had.<p>

So, what had he done these past 3 months other than studying?

Thinking about Riku, mainly. And his relation with Sora.

Although he seemed that he wasn't paying much attention to the group's conversations at lunch, he had started to take notes of everything coming out from the brunet's mouth, especially if a certain name was mentioned. He had observed, learned and finally figured out what had happened between them. It appeared that Sora had gotten close with the teacher: he knew Riku's details and personality well despite just knowing him from such a short time.

Jealousy was eating him. He, Zexion, the guy who had been having crush on Riku for a long time, was now topped with the new competitor. It was a war, but not exactly a war between him and Sora. More like a war between his heart and his mind. He had known Riku much longer than Sora, so he deserved to be with him!

It hit him hard.

From the way Sora talked about Riku, the latter seemed to have a high interest in him. Or maybe it was just Sora who was overly expecting a reciprocated love, his heart hoped. His mind was whispering it might be better just to let Riku with him and the man might be happier being with Sora rather than him. But he loved Riku and he couldn't just let him go!

So, he finally took a decision: confess. That day, he would come to the bookstore and tell Riku that he had been having a crush on him for months. He had been longing for him, for his love. And maybe, just maybe, everything would have turned out okay. Maybe he actually had an interest on Zexion instead of Sora. Who knew? He just needed to take the chance, and there was no other way to prove it.

"Zexy?" A small voice tugged him from his thoughts. It sounded hurtful, but some hopes were still clinging on it.

Zexion directed his eyes to the source of the voice and found Demyx staring at him sadly. He knew that he had ignored Demyx for a long time and a tinge of guilt found its way to his heart. But then, he couldn't just forget easily what Demyx had done. Maybe if he told Demyx that he was going to confess to his crush the blonde would stop bothering him.

"Demyx," The man seemed to be surprised that the man actually started a conversation with him. Giving no time to respond, Zexion added, "I'm going to confess my feelings to Riku today."

At that moment, Demyx's felt way more than surprised. He had just discovered the possibility of him having a crush on his best friend, Zexion, who, that day, turned out was going to confess his feelings. A pang of sadness hit him, but there was nothing else he could do. And with him spreading the rumor, he felt much worse than he should be. He should have just let Zexion do whatever he wanted.

The blonde didn't try to say anything, but he gave Zexion an apologetic look and an understanding smile. He, at least, could try to be a nice, supportive friend.

The lunch break came and, as usual, the four of them met at the cafeteria. Both Zexion and Demyx were quiet, compared to the other days. Usually, although partly ignored, Demyx would make some attempts to talk or simply joke around. But this time, he couldn't make any witty jokes or smart remarks after knowing that his best friend—again, possibly his crush ("if you feel nothing towards him, why are you so possessive? You like him, I know it. I'm your brother, Dem.")—would confess his feelings to the teacher. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Zexion, and worst of all, everything was ruined because of him.

"Why are you guys so quiet today? Something happened?" Sora picked up the tension between them and quickly asked out of curiosity.

"Nah, it's okay," he lied, despite having the feeling that every single of them knew that. Demyx wasn't all good at all at lying. But the boys thought it wasn't their business, so they tried to make some kind of conversation despite the unusual air between them.

"I have class now." Demyx abruptly stood from his chair. "Good luck, Zexion."

The mentioned man looked at him just when he turned his body to leave. And he felt something was missing there.

* * *

><p>It was right after school. The bell had rung and the students were leaving. Including Zexion, who was just a little bit nervous. He headed straight to the bookstore, looking for no other than his crush, Riku. He knew exactly that the teacher had left school earlier after all his teachings periods were finished so he could stay on the bookstore's counter as usual. He walked, fast paced, afraid that his courage would've all gone if he had waited. Just like he had thought, Riku was there, clearly seen through the glass window. Quickly, he opened the door and got inside. His steps was quick and brief, matching his racing heart.<p>

"Zexion." The voice he had missed for months greeted him. Zexion's heart swell as the soothing, calming voice of Riku slipped into his ears. "It's been a long time since the last time you came. Must be because of the exam week, huh?"

"Yeah, I've been busy with school." His heart was thumping hard as if wanting to break through his rib cage. He bit his lips nervously and locked his eyes on Riku. "Riku, it's about my crush."

"Oh, you want to talk about him? Well, what's been going on between you two?" Riku replied, smiling, intending to help the blue haired teen out.

"I want to confess my feelings to him," he said, blushing furiously.

"Do it, then. Good luck about that!" The silver haired teacher patted his back, making an assuring gesture.

Zexion inhaled slowly and tried to calm his heart down and said: "I love you, Riku."

If it wasn't his blinking eyes, Zexion would have thought that Riku had turned into a stone. His mouth was ajar in surprise, both teal colored eyes were staring at him in disbelief. It was obvious that Riku hadn't expected such a turn of events.

The senior raised his hands briefly, looping them around Riku's neck, and then took his lips into his own, carefully and full of doubts. Riku didn't move at all, not avoiding it either, perhaps too surprised to even respond. After a few seconds, he pulled apart. Zexion's cheeks had never been that bright red before, they were burning hot.

"I... I've never expected it would be me, Zexion," the teacher timidly admitted.

"I've never expected it would be you, either." It was hard for Zexion to fall in love, but Riku had taken his heart easily.

Zexion looked down to his toes, wanting to hide his bashful expression. But then he turned his face to Riku who let out a small gasp. He was looking outside the window, looking at a figure which was slowly fading on its running pace. But he knew who that figure was: Sora. And from the falling expression of Riku's face, he knew that he would've never been able to compete with the brunet.

Riku noticed the disappointment in Zexion's eyes and understood that both had understood what was going on without even saying a word. Offering his apologetic smile, he muttered, "I'm sorry, Zexion." And then the senior left, his face not showing any emotions unlike his heart which was slowly breaking down.

* * *

><p>Did Riku love Zexion back?<p>

That was all Demyx could think of since yesterday. His curiosity and jealousy was demanding him to ask Zexion, who surely had told the teacher about his feelings.

It was only morning and the school hadn't even started, but Demyx already wanted to go home. His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. Reluctantly, he unlocked the screen and felt utterly surprised when he read the sender's name.

_From: Zexion_

_Tell our homeroom teacher that I can't go to school. I'm sick._

Short and clear, just like how Zexion talked. Despite the fact that Zexion was sick, Demyx found it comforting that at times Zexion counted on him. He could be useful even for the littlest things like that. But again, he felt bad that Zexion was sick. His heart fell again, minding that his friend might be more than "sick". Who knew.

Lunch break had come, but he wasn't really hungry. He had let Roxas eat his portion and he had left immediately after doing so. He was now thinking only about Zexion. Demyx was now determined to visit Zexion after school: it wasn't wrong to visit his sick friend, right?

On his quiet home, it was rare to hear her mom chattering happily with someone else. He was on his bed, covering his body inside his plaid cover although he knew it wouldn't be any useful to warm his heart. Anyway, who was the visitor? It couldn't be one of his mom's friends, the voice was clearly identifying the speaker's gender as male. And certainly not his dad, he was supposed to be at home only much later. Well, it couldn't be his friend, he thought, he didn't have many friends and, in fact it was his only...

Demyx.

It was Demyx's voice.

He glanced at the clock and realized that the school was already over a couple of hours ago. Not really wanting to see Demyx, he pulled the cover tighter, now hiding his body, head to toe, beneath it. Some hesitant knocks were distracting his ears. Without his permission, the knocker got into his room.

"Zexion," he whispered. Zexion felt a weight added on the edge of his bed and a soft _thud_ which turned out to be Demyx's bag being put on the floor.

He noticed that Demyx had been calling him with "Zexion" instead of his usual "Zexy". And he knew that Demyx only did that when he was being serious. Still, he chose not to answer.

"I'm so sorry, Zexion, it was all my fault."

He kept his mouth silenced. Of course with him being rejected by Riku, what had happened didn't matter anymore. The rumor was nothing. Demyx _starting_ the rumor was nothing, too. Nothing mattered to him anymore.

"Please don't do this to me," Demyx continued, "I... I know I'm selfish, but I just can't bear the thought of losing you. Please talk to me."

The man didn't even flinch; he was listening without any intentions of replying. He had planned not to say anything until the blonde would have left, and he was pretty sure it wouldn't be long because the sun was making its way down the horizon.

"I'm staying, Zexion, I won't leave you, at least until you talk to me.

"Okay, I'm fine if you're actually going out with that teacher, I won't mind." Demyx sighed, already running out of words to say. "As long as you're happy."

Zexion tensed up when the blonde mentioned about his former crush. Well, Demyx hadn't known about him being rejected, after all. After a long time not saying anything, he somehow found his voice small and shy, "I'm not."

Zexion's sudden answer surprised Demyx, who was now a bit relieved that he finally got some words out of his friend's throat. "What?"

"I'm not going out with him." He raised his voice, remembering that he was still under the cover and his voice was muffled, barely clear.

"I thought he liked you too."

"He doesn't." It hurt him to think about Riku again after one whole day trying to forget his scar.

Demyx didn't say anything, trying to understand Zexion's position. He felt bad for his friend, and all he could do was trying to comfort him. They both let the silence conquering the room for a while.

"Boys," Zexion's mom called from outside, "dinner's ready." The sandy blonde haired teen glanced at the clock. It was near 7 pm then.

Demyx looked back at the bundle of Zexion and patted it lightly. "C'mon, Zexy. You must be hungry, right?"

Now Zexion was finally getting out from his hideout. He sat on his bad, staring on his lap. Demyx shifted his seat, closer and closer to the depressed teen.

"I'm not hungry."

He sighed. "Do you want to be _punished_?" Somehow, his tone was changing into a suspicious one from the serious one of before.

"Why do you think you can punish me?" He looked up only to find two green sparkling eyes staring right into his own. Only few inches of proximity were between them.

"Because you're _my_ Zexy," the blonde whispered, right before he crashed his lips against Zexion's. Slowly and caringly he kissed his blue haired crush. Zexion welcomed the kiss hesitantly. Still kissing, tears were starting to wet Zexion's cheeks, which then brushed Demyx's own. Demyx didn't back up, not minding the salty water on his skin. The blue haired teen hugged Demyx whilst his lips were moving against his friend. His heart was still broken, but Demyx was there, making it better somehow. The green eyed teen enveloped Zexion's slim waist and pulled their bodies closer. After a while, they separated their lips, slightly panting.

Both of them didn't say anything for a while, their minds couldn't comprehend what had just happened. The tension between them had melted into their kiss, and everything seemed to be alright.

* * *

><p>It appeared that Demyx had already planned to sleepover at Zexion's house and he had brought his belongings. Zexion didn't mind that, minding that tomorrow would be Saturday. He could've as well enjoyed his friend's presence so he wouldn't have felt lonely.<p>

After having finished their dinner, the boys took a bath (separately, mind you), and they were already inside their pajamas inside Zexion's bedroom, relaxing. They both were sitting on the bed, next to each other, their backs lying against the wall with some pillows beneath so it was much comfortable rather than touching the cold, hard wall itself. The TV was on as they were watching some sit-com together, the lights reflected on their eyes. It wasn't even funny, but at least it was better to have some noises to distract their mind rather than having an uncomfortable silence.

The two hadn't spoken at all about the earlier kissing event, so Demyx thought it was the right moment to say something. He had to clear things up.

"Zexy?" His voice was clear although the comedian on TV was shouting while the spectators were howling laughs like nuts.

Zexion _hmm_'d in lieu of answer, his eyes were still stuck on the show. Demyx knew that he wasn't watching, he must've been thinking about something. He knew Zexion way too well.

"So..." Scratching his head, he smiled sheepishly. "Did _that _mean you forgive me?"

Zexion glanced at the blonde, now his attention partly directed at him. "What do you mean by _that_?"

"Uh... us, kissing, ya know?" He shrugged, his cheeks were reddening slightly. "We're cool?"

"I guess." He nodded slightly, shoulders relaxing, eyes darting back to the TV. "You're still straight, aren't you?"

Demyx was surprised. He wasn't sure how to answer that. He didn't know if he had turned gay, but the kiss with Zexion wasn't bad at all. Plus, he had thought about the possibility of him liking Zexion as more than a friend. Maybe he was gay too?

"I don't know. Maybe not." He shifted his body a little, trying to be more comfortable in his seat.

They let the laughters from the TV sip into their minds. Despite the moving pictures trying to entertain them, their thoughts were ignoring it sincerely.

"But," Demyx started, "something's been bothering me."

"What is it?"

"It's _you_."

Zexion sat straight up and stared at his friend, brows furrowed. "How exactly I've been bothering you?" If it was about bothering, it should have been the other way around.

"I think I like you," Demyx muttered, quiet enough to hide his shyness but loud enough to be caught by Zexion. "I mean, more than friends like each other. You're always on my mind, and it's bothering me."

The blue haired man mused for a while. It was unexpected, obviously, and he had never thought about Demyx being his lover. Well, he admitted that Demyx could be attractive (though annoying at the same time), but being his lover was a whole different thing. Not to mention that he was still dejected by what had happened yesterday.

"In a good way or a bad way?"

"In a good way."

"Okay." That was the only thing he could say.

"Do you like me too, Zexy?" His voice was adorable, pleading with cuteness from the other senior who seemed to be uneasy with the act.

"If you're less annoying, I might be able to start liking you, to be honest." He could try to open his heart for Demyx, right? He was afraid that Demyx would hurt him—love was always something you have to be careful about, after all. But then, you couldn't really love someone without that risk.

Demyx understood that it didn't have to be rushed, especially because his friend was currently still recovering from the previous heartache. But the blonde haired man would have waited until Zexion was ready, strong enough to build a new relationship with him. Zexion smiled towards him, a rare occurrence indeed, a promising one. And Demyx simply smiled back, thinking that they would've made a great couple. Not now, perhaps much later, he didn't know when, but time didn't matter for him. He could be patient as long as it was for Zexion.

"You know well that I will only get more annoying," he grinned, his mischievous look plastered on his face.

Other than happy and grateful, Zexion could only face palm himself, but in the end he chuckled: Demyx would always be Demyx.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks for **Maverick Flare **(a.k.a. SoRikuRox) for beta-reading this! And thank you for everyone who has reviewed this story until the end. I hope you all enjoyed it :) –Anwy.


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